Land at Seven Hills, Ipswich, Suffolk

Between the 27th and 30th June 2022, Oxford Archaeology carried out archaeological trial trenching on land to the north of Felixtowe Road, Seven Hills, Ipswich, Suffolk which is being considered for commercial development. A total of 256 trenches, the majority measuring 30m long by 2m wide, were investigated in advance of the submission of a planning application.
In the eastern part of the site, barrows LVT 022 and LVT023 form a significant part of the archaeological record of the Bronze Age funerary landscape at Seven Hills. At the site of barrow LVT 022, there was tentative evidence in Trench 170 for a ditch associated with this monument. In addition, Middle Bronze Age pottery from a ditch in Trench 175 suggests the presence of small-scale (possibly transient) activity nearby. The site of barrow LVT 023 was not targeted directly by the trenches and no archaeological activity was uncovered by trenches placed around its location.
The predominant features across the western fields were ditches that formed part of a post-medieval field system shown on cartographic sources between 1838–1990. Undated ditches often ran parallel to those visible on historic maps suggesting they are still part of the same post-medieval field system but possibly no longer in use when the area was documented in detail. Further undated features within the site included isolated post holes and pits. Eight trenches across the site contained charcoal rich pits, the remains of charcoal making “clamps” but potentially of a relatively recent date as many were observed to cut subsoil in the trench sections.
Trenches within the north-eastern corner of the evaluated area contained evidence for considerable modern disturbance, probably relating to the construction of the adjacent A14 carriageway during the 1980s. A total of 176 out of 256 trenches produced no archaeological remains which demonstrates the overall low density of archaeological features on this site.