A possible location for the Ramsey Abbey precinct and docks: Excavations at Ailwyn Community School, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire: Excavation Report

Two small excavations were carried out to the south and east of the Ramsey Ailwyn Community School over the winter of 2005/6 in advance of the construction of a new science block and new hard play area. Both areas are situated close to the 5m contour (the medieval fen edge) at the extreme southeast of the area known to have been occupied by Ramsey Abbey.
Three ditched boundaries and a few small quarry pits were recorded. None of the three boundaries are well dated but using map evidence alongside the small finds assemblage they can potentially be assigned to the medieval (or late medieval), post-medieval and modern periods. The two later ditches appear to be direct, or near direct, replacements for the one that went before.
Trying the earliest medieval or late medieval version of this boundary (a wide, curving ditch) into the available aerial photographic and map evidence the Abbey Precinct has been extrapolated for most of its course. The precinct appears to ovate, measuring some 800m north to south and 550m east to west and encloses an area of roughly 35 hectares. There is evidence for a road or trackway that circumnavigates the precinct boundary.
In addition, a suggestion can now be made as to the location of the Abbey’s docking facilities and the lode that fed them.