Late Anglo-Saxon, Medieval, Post-medieval and Modern Remains at Lower Brook Street, Ipswich

Between 16th January and 2nd August 2018 Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) carried out c.0.1ha of excavation and monitoring of demolition work at Lower Brook Street, Ipswich. The excavations followed two earlier phases of evaluation work conducted by OA East between 2016–17. Lastly, on 10th August 2021, OA East attended the site to monitor the excavation of a remediation pit into a localised area of fuel contaminated ground. Overall, the archaeological works uncovered evidence for activity spanning the Late Anglo-Saxon to modern periods with some residual Early to Middle Anglo-Saxon finds. The latter includes a rune inscribed lead charm and a coin of Aethelweard of East Anglia. Furthermore, the course of the Anglo-Saxon and medieval Broc, which gave its name to the street bordering the site to the east, was identified.
The excavations make a significant contribution to understanding the development of this – hitherto underreported – part of Ipswich. During the late 10th and 11th century, the site evidently lay well within the urban reach of the town. Any occupants were seemingly cleared/removed in the early 12th century when the site was incorporated into the Augustinian priory of St Peter and St Paul. The site appears to have been lain within the precincts of the priory until its dissolution, possibly within an open area given over to orchards or gardens within which only a modest build-up of medieval deposits had accumulated. Although of lower significance, these deposits yielded fragments of tile, architectural stone, and window glass, providing tentative clues about the appearance of the priory and later college buildings.
This situation continued into the post-medieval period, represented by accumulated layers across much of the site. Contemporary mapping shows that this area remained a partly open environment after the Dissolution, comprising orchards, gardens and backlands between the more built-up areas along St Peter’s Street to the west and (to a lesser extent) Foundation Street (latterly Lower Brook Street?) to the east. The post-medieval soils produced moderately significant assemblages of pottery, vessel glass and tobacco-pipe (including clear evidence of a Dutch influence) perhaps relating to a population that was becoming more gentrified in this part of the town.
Furthermore, the discovery of an in-situ brick-built malt kiln furnace, possibly associated with the earliest configuration of late 17th to early 18th century malthouses off Turret Lane is a significant find for this field of study and to the wider town, with its rich beer making history.