NHER 28127 (Monument record) - Site of Middle Saxon market and settlement and multi-period finds

This record contains finds previously recorded under other NHER numbers [1].

Early 1985. In area around ring ditch [2], roughly 50m across. Surface finds in ploughed field.
2 sherds sandy Ipswich Ware, six sherds Thetford-type ware, including 2 rims and one base.
Identified A. Rogerson (NAU)
A. K. Gregory (NAU) 21 October 1985.

1989 (or before). Fieldwalking by [3]'s students in [4].
1 sherd pimply Ipswich, and one burnt perhaps same.
1 handle probable Middle Saxon, probably an import.
Informant [2] reports strap handle of north French blackware, with well defined grooves rather than S shaped.
Similar to sherd from Ipswich Shirehall Yard (SAU Context No.6904, 00600042) which was from late 9th century context, and also similar to Norfolk sites NHER 18176 and NHER 18177 handle sherds.
2 St Neots ware, 2 Thetford type ware.
2 medieval unglazed, 1 post medieval green glazed.
Identified A. Rogerson (NAU) July 1989.

1989. Fieldwalking on site [5].
Thetford type sherds, 4 glazed Grimston, 2 medieval unglazed, 1 undated handmade shelly rim, and 3 fragments of daub with withy impressions.
Identified A. Rogerson (NAU).
E. Rose (NAU) 28 July 1989.

Early 1991. Large scatter site, field containing other NHER sites [6]. Found with metal detecting and in fieldwalking.
Iron Age, Roman, Middle Saxon, Late Saxon and medieval sherds.
Roman and Late Saxon coins.
Iron Age, Roman, Early Saxon (S8), Early/Middle Saxon (S4, S5 and S7) Middle Saxon (S6 and S9), Late Saxon and medieval metalwork.
See full lists in file.
Plan in file.
A. Rogerson (NAU) 26 March 1991.

1991. Metal detecting finds.
Roman, Late Saxon and medieval metalwork.
See file for details
A. Rogerson (NAU) 2 September 1991

For details of peat and pollen analysis of adjacent land see (S1).

Before 11 February 2005. Metal detecting.
Two Roman coins (but not Roman, almost certainly modern losses).
Early Saxon brooch.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 20 July 2005.

In the 8th century ‘rural centres’, located in the coastal zones or close to important communication routes, appear to have coexisted with high status ‘Emporia’ or gateway settlements where craft products were manufactured and exchanged for luxury items. The Early Saxon material from this site is predominantly cemetery-related and is widespread from the 5th century onwards and there is abundant evidence around the site, with an additional shorter-lived focus 500m to the west. It is possible that prehistoric barrows may have provided a pre-existing context for burials and these burial grounds would have created a significant focal point in the landscape. Activity may have also been encouraged by the pre-existence of a north-south aligned Romano-British routeway to the east (NHER 1791) and the landing place provided by the confluence of the Goose Beck and River Burn. This would have created an ideal landing and trading site and might have acted as a social ‘magnet’ for a significant Middle Saxon site. Concentrations of Middle Saxon coinage and metalwork loss abutting the waterfront also lend support to this interpretation.

Early Saxon pottery and geophysical anomalies possibly indicate ‘Sunken Feature Buildings’ south of Goose Beck, spatially removed from the cemetery evidence to the southwest, which could indicate an Early Saxon settlement focus. These features closely correlate with the observed Middle Saxon metalwork/pottery scatter in this area, indicating that there might be land-use continuities between the Early and Middle Saxon periods. Fieldwalking, geophysical survey and detailed plotting of metal finds has enabled us to place the trade and exchange evidence within a more fully characterised Middle to Late Saxon activity focus, with areas of permanent settlement indicated from the Middle Saxon period until the 12th century. Fieldwalking south of the Goose Beck identified an intense area of Middle to Late Saxon pottery indicative of a settlement zone, as well as a less intense pottery scatter, indicative of agricultural cultivation. It is uncertain whether the trade/exchange focus indicated by Middle Saxon metalwork north of the Beck relates to the geophysical features of the probable manorial focus, and elite control, from the outset. An alternative hypothesis is that this started as an unregulated site of exchange that then acquires a controlling focus. This seems an important question as the site then fails to develop into a prominent Late Saxon focus of trade/exchange. Leaving aside the possibility that the settlement failed to develop because of environmental changes, like the river channel silting-up, as at Ulph Place (NHER 34581), the nature of both the settlement and control of exchange may have played an important role in this apparent decline.
See (S2).
S. Howard (HES), 4 November 2011.