Harps Close Meadow, Waldingfield Road, Sudbury

Between 24th November and 12th December 2014 OA East conducted an archaeological excavation at Harps Close Meadow, Sudbury, Suffolk. (TL 879 421). The work was commissioned by CgMs on behalf of Bellway Homes in advance of the proposed construction of a residential development. The excavation was carried out following an earlier trial trench evaluation, undertaken by Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, in 2012. An open area excavation along the east edge of the site confirmed the presence of a large ditch of Roman date, previously recorded in the evaluation. This produced a few sherds of very abraded pottery of 1st to 2nd century date and a charred seed rich infill suggesting the burning of cereal processing waste in the near vicinity, perhaps indicating a corn-drier outside the limits of the development area. Also present were a truncated pit and shallow ditches of earlier Roman date. Silt deposits located along the south east edge of the excavation, contained worked flint, and were sealed by colluvium. A smaller excavation area was located against the north west boundary of the site to investigate the context of Middle Bronze Age pottery found during evaluation. Only the truncated remains of modern post holes which cut directly into the natural were found. No evidence for prehistoric features or other finds of Middle Bronze Age date were present. All the features were sealed by a colluvium spread, containing post-medieval ceramic building material, topsoil and subsoil contained some worked flint.