Monument record BRD 018 - Chequer Meadow; Staunch Meadow (Sax)

Middle Saxon Occupation on Chequer Meadow (S4). N.B. see Arttype for full list of artefacts.
1952: D Howlott of NWHCM, dug briefly at Staunch Meadow. Finds included MSax pottery, animal bones and a bronze pin. Finds are at NWHCM (Mus Acc 6.32.958), and there is a note in Rainbird Clarke's card index. No sign of any excavation records.
Partial excavation of a settlement site on a sand island beside the river Ouse. Occupation primarily MSax 650-850 AD, but a very small number of ESax objects. Settlement characterised by plank-in-post-hole and plank-in-trench built rectangular structures, some within enclosure ditches, which fall into two basic size ranges, circa 11m x 6m & 8m x 5m. One of the structures included a horses head and other body parts deposited underneath the doorway. Settlement was served by at least one church and cemetery. Second cemetery located but not church (1988). Industrial area for cloth (linen) preparation and dying located on reclaimed land to N of island. Island connected to main river bank by a causeway.Major archaeological attribute is the single period occupation and no subsequent agriculture leading to preservation of an occupation horizon and recovery of large numbers of finds. Main settlement deserted circa 850 AD for alternative site on river bank and ? focus of present Med church (BRD 049). The island site remained in use as chapel and burial site ? perpetuating the focus of the settlement and ? the second church (S1).
See (S1)(S2)(S3) for detailed information of finds (including silver penny of Burgred of Mercia, formerly recorded as BRD 025) etc. For summary excavation reports see (S7).
See (S5) for English Heritage AM Lab report.
June 2006: report by nearby resident of "frequent illegal metal detecting and 'nighthawking', sometimes in broad daylight". Police informed several times but no action taken (see note in parish file).
Full report expected circa 2008.
Also Mes, Neo, BA, IA, Rom, Med, PMed & Un.

2014 EAA Monograph: Between 1980 and 1988 excavations took place on the Middle Saxon settlement at Brandon, which is located on the edge of the fenland in the county of Suffolk. The site occupies a raised ‘island’ of windblown sand within the floodplain of the Little Ouse and approximately 11,750 sq. metres were excavated. The excavations exposed the evidence of a settlement which lasted from the mid 7th to the late 9th centuries. The remains of at least thirty five buildings were excavated, which included timber in many of the post-holes. Other structural features were: a raised causeway, a wooden bridge, two cemeteries and two churches. An area along the waterfront was given over to textile processing with structures linked to dyeing and bleaching, and a smithy and a possible bakery were also identified. (S9)

March 2017. 'Brecks from Above' and Breckland National Mapping Programme.
The earthworks, former earthworks, soilmarks and cropmarks of this Middle Saxon settlement site and medieval enclosure at Staunch Meadow are recorded under a separate number (BRD267) due to the complexity of the site and the fact that they relate to several periods of occupation and activity at the site, but cannot easily be split into individual phases. See this record and the mapping for details.
S. Horlock (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 19th March 2017.