Ipswich UAD child record record IPS 1304 - Aisled Building Phase 1a

The second building was a large aisled building with two phases of build and a substantial repair phase. It was northeast-southwest aligned and the northern end appeared to extend beyond the excavation area. The early building was at least 19m long by 13m wide with aisles at either side at the southern end. The central posts were substantial with post sockets up to 0.6m in diameter and clay packing around them in pits between 1m and 1.5m wide x up to 1.1m deep. The early building had been subject to substantial repairs in which some of the main posts were replaced. These were conveniently identifiable by the use of clean yellow clay to pack the original posts and clean green clay to pack the replaced posts. A possible entrance is suggested by a break in the post line on the east side. Following these repairs the building was subsequently rebuilt on a marginally different alignment, with an aisle apparently only present on the east side. The remnant of a flint and mortar wall was associated with the later phase and a small mortar floored, flint walled room at the north-east corner of the building may represent an adaptation of the building towards the end of its life. A dense layer of roof tiles was found near the north-east corner of the building and these looked as if they represented a collapsed roof from this part of the building. A single line of posts extending from the southern end of the building and on an alignment with the later phase may form a fence line. There was no evidence of a floor surface associated with any of the phases of this building although two oval clay and tiled hearths, found within the north end of the building, and surviving external surfaces suggest that the excavation was at floor level. This implies that the building either had a raised or suspended floor or no floor at all which may suggest that it was a barn. Intense rubbish deposits alongside the eastern side of the building which may be related to its rebuilding contained pottery and small finds dating from the late 2nd century, (S1).