Monument record ADB 223 - Chapel Barn Farm, Aldeburgh (ADLHS) FW

2015: The Aldeburgh & District Local History Society (ADLHS) have been conducting fieldwalking adjacent to the ruined St Mary’s Church near Aldeburgh (ALD 005). Finds include prehistoric flints, Roman/ Saxon/ medieval/post-med pottery & medieval decorated floor tile (for details see S2)
2016-2018 (ADB 223) The ADLHS carried out a geophysical survey and dug a number of trial trenches and identified a number of wall foundations of the church confirming the geophysics results (for details see S1)
Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2018. (S3)

Fieldwork continued in 2022 when, over a two-week period, three separate programmes were undertaken. The first of these was an investigation of the sub-foundations of the Church’s west wall. Two trenches were excavated: one in the projected centre of the 6m wall, the second 1m to the N of the SW corner of the foundation structure. The make-up of the excavated foundations was entirely consistent with the findings of earlier excavations, with layering of sand, pebbles, flints, larger stones and large flints. In this particular sub-foundation, the foundations started about 22cm below the field surface to a depth of about 70cm and were about 90cm in width, with occasional findings of mortar to either side. The centre line between both trenches and the SW and NW corners were exactly in line, demonstrating that the building’s foundations were those of a rectilinear building. A 30cm diameter test pit 2m away to the SW found only the natural soil, down to the subsoil level. We found no evidence to support Nicholas Fenwick Hele’s report, published in 1870, of his seeing the base of a round tower. This remains a mystery. The second work programme, was by a team of metal detectorists, led and co-ordinated by one of our members, covering parts of Chapel Field previously investigated in this way, but also exploring new areas. A considerable number of finds was made and recorded with their GPS coordinates. The third work programme was the excavation of three 1m x 1m test pits, with the primary objective of the ADLHS archaeology team gaining experience of the process and recording of such pits for possible future community investigations elsewhere. The exercise proved to be extremely useful for that purpose, although there were no finds of archaeological significance. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2022. (S4)

A day of community field walking was undertaken in a field containing the marginal remains of St Mary, Hazlewood, one of two Aldeburgh churches listed in the Domesday Book. The field walking produced finds from the prehistoric through to the modern period. Two sherds of prehistoric pottery were particularly significant and, in conjunction with flint and burnt stone, provide a strong indication of a possible Late Bronze/Iron Age settlement in the SE corner of the field. Roman pottery was sparse and abraded, and may therefore not be significant. An overlapping distribution of Saxon, early medieval and medieval pottery in the S half of the field shows a high potential for settlement, in these periods, around the church and to the W and S of the church. Of particular interest were six pieces of decorated medieval floor tile, most probably originating from within the church. The results of the field walk are sufficiently encouraging to warrant further investigation of the field, with particular reference to the area around the church ruins and the potential settlement areas identified above. ADLHS hopes to undertake this further research in 2016/17 Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2015 (S5).

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2016 (S6)