Land at Place Farm, Ingham, Suffolk

Between the 15th January and the 27th February 2020, Oxford Archaeology East conducted an archaeological evaluation and excavation work on land at Place Farm, Ingham, Suffolk. The work was undertaken in advance of the proposed installation of water and gas pipelines and electricity cables in a single service trench scheme. A total of 34 evaluation trenches were excavated across arable farmland recreational areas surrounding St Genevieve Lakes (formerly Ingham Quarry). These trenches revealed five of areas of later prehistoric and Romano-British archaeological features.
As a result of the trenching work, excavation Areas A-E were opened to mitigate the impact of the service trench scheme on the archaeological remains. Within the small tributary valley at the northern end of the scheme, a large number of pits were uncovered in Areas A and B which probably represent an eastward extension of the more extensive area of Neolithic to Iron Age settlement activity previously excavated at Ingham Quarry. To the south, Area C investigated a group of Romano-British settlement remains which probably represent a peripheral part of an Early to Middle Roman farmstead. Overlooking the River Lark valley in the southern part of the scheme, Areas D and E encountered further settlement remains to add to the previously known areas of later prehistoric occupation of this higher ground excavated at Fornham Park and Ingham Quarry.
When taken together, the areas of occupation identified by these excavations provide a useful contribution to understanding the evolving pattern of later prehistoric and Romano-British settlement in the locality.