Monument record ERL 250 - Undated Ditch and pit or posthole at RAF Lakenheath Soakaway replacement

Undated ditches (but probably Roman) and pits found during monitoring alongside Rochester Road (S1).

2017: Several soakaways were monitored across the airbase which revealed further evidence of prehistoric, Roman and possibly Anglo-Saxon activity, whilst also highlighting preserved soil profiles in some areas. One of the Rochester Road soakaways revealed two definite cut features; a probable ditch and pit/posthole of probable Roman or Anglo-Saxon date. Soakaways close to Building 1159 produced several ditches, pits and finds. The ditches are interpreted partly as field and paddock enclosures, as well as possible droveways, whilst also functioning to drain the area that was clearly quite wet throughout the Roman occupation. A pit here produced a large assemblage of Iron Age pottery, as well as fired clay fragments, thought to be structural, and the remains of a loomweight. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2017 (S2).

Six areas were monitored, of which two produced archaeological features and finds, predominantly of Iron Age and Roman date. On the northern edge of Rochester Road (ERL250) an undated ditch and pit/posthole were recorded, both of which are likely to be Roman. The two soakaways at Building 1159 (LKH391) uncovered two pits and two ditches. The latter are likely Roman boundary and drainage features as seen on sites nearby. One of the pits is most likely prehistoric, Roman or Saxon and was very shallow. The other was middle-late Iron Age, producing pottery, animal bone, struck flint and a large assemblage of fired clay, including some thought to be structural (possibly from an oven or kiln) and a possible loomweight. Many of the other areas revealed relatively well preserved soil profiles, despite previous modern construction (S3).