Archaeological Excavation at Site 1b, Nacton Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IPS718

In May to June 2013 Oxford Archaeology East carried out an excavation at 'Site 1b' Nacton Road, Ipswich, near to Ravenswood Housing Estate. The excavation of the 0.5 ha area was prompted by a planning application for a restaurant development with associated car-parking. The site lay in an area that had previously been occupied by Ipswich Airport and had, during World War II, been used as an RAF airfield.
The area was stripped by mechanical excavator and all exposed archaeological and natural features were recorded. The earliest features were a pit containing burnt flint and another pit containing two flint flakes and a probable hammerstone, both of which are undated but may be of Late Neolithic or Bronze Age date. Another phase of use of the site is represented by a pair of parallel ditches forming a droveway at right angles to Nacton Road. This is thought to date to the Late Iron Age or Roman period and may link up with another droveway and fields excavated to the south-west of the site.
A number of small charcoal-filled pits with evidence of in-situ burning are likely to have had some industrial purpose, for example charcoal burning. One of these pits has been dated to the Middle Anglo-Saxon period and it is likely that the remainder are contemporary or perhaps carry on into the medieval period. Small amounts of hammerscale within their fills suggests that the charcoal may be have been burnt for the purposes of iron smelting or smithing.
Two boundary ditches dating to the late 18th or 19th-century were identified. The first forms part of a tree-lined avenue leading from Nacton Road to Alnesbourn Priory and the second is an enclosure associated with Walk Barn. Both these boundaries correlate with boundaries shown on historic maps.
Linear marks on the eastern half of the site may relate to the WWII airfield, the civilian airport or may be plough marks or scarification marks.