Archaeological Recording at Butcher's Hill Farm, Littleport

The first phase of an Archaeological Recording Brief was conducted in May 1993 on 0.6 hectares of arable land in Littleport Parish at TL 532/903. The work was undertaken by Cambridge Archaeology for P.J. Thory Ltd. in advance of the proposed extraction of clay for river bank strengthening. Topsoil was removed by mechanical excavator under archaeological supervision, and five dark areas of potential interest were located, including two very shallow rings of 9.5m diameter. All these features were cut into, or lay directly over, the natural boulder clay found immediately beneath the topsoil. On further investigation, all were found to be of probable modern origin or of natural derivation. The area examined represents the total area that the client wished to strip of topsoil in the first phase of works. It remains possible that after August 1993 a second phase of stripping will be required, with attendant archaeological monitoring, increasing the extraction area to a maximum of 2.4 hectares.