NHER 58279 (Monument record) - Post medieval extraction pits

February 2011. Trial Trenching.
Two wide, shallow pits were recorded during an evaluation in advance of residential development. These pits were likely excavated in the 19th century for sand extraction and back-filled sometime in the early 20th century. Associated finds include post medieval pottery, brick, roof tile, clay pipe, and bottle glass.
Similar pits have been recorded to the west (NHER 56798), and larger-scale extraction is depicted to the south on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map (S2).
This site appears to have undergone extensive landscaping sometime after the extraction pits went out of use, possibly in the 1950's when additional dwellings were constructed at St Edmunds Road. The excavated area falls within the vicinity of a chance find of human skeletal remains recorded on the edge of a sand pit in 1954 (NHER 2445), but no further evidence of burials was recorded during the evaluation.
See report (S1) for further information.
H. Hamilton (HES), 22 November 2012.