Monument record RGH 094 - Suffolk Business Park, Moreton Hall Estate

2016: A geophysical survey identified the remains of a former Royal Air Force Station, agricultural activity, modern structures and geological deposits. The edges of the former runways of Rougham Airfield were detected, as well as former field boundaries. A number of strong, pit-like features occur across the area (S1, S2).

2017: Second phase of evaluation in the Treatt site area recorded four undated pits, two with in situ burning, one with a burning deposit, and one that was heavily truncated. The characteristics of the features suggest a potential broadly contemporary relationship with similar early medieval hearths identified as similar pits in the earlier phase of evaluation. In addition, modern disturbances and deposits of ferrous metal objects, associated with the later use of the site as a United States Army Air Force airfield during the Second World War, were recorded across the site (S3).

2017: Suffolk Business Park (Phase 2) evaluation revealed a surface finds assemblag of worked flint recovered from the topsoil across the site in Field 1 and from sealed deposits of several archaeological features though some of these may be residential. Sixteen large pits were exposed in various parts of the site, which may have been of prehistoric origin given the flint artefacts from associated conexts and similar features recorded previously, though they may have been more recent, sincle many post-medieval chalk and gravel extraction pits have been recorded in the area. A series of small pits/hearth were also found in the north-east, east,s out and south-west with a concentration in the north-west, suggestive of settlement activity located within the vicinity. One of the small pits located in the south-west contained Iron Age pottery. One was also radiocarboned dated to the Early-Middle Iron Age and another ot the Saxon period. A number of post-medieval ditches were found to the east and south-west with one of the projectedditch alignments to the south-west visible on aerial and historic mapping suggesting the site was utilised as an area of arable field activity (S4)

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2017(S5).

(See BSE 508 for evaluation results for Suffolk Park Business Extension).