Land adjacent to Bears Lane, Lavenham, Suffolk. An Archaeological Evaluation

The evaluation revealed a cluster of pits and ditches, associated with a kiln, a grave and a surface or layer focussed on the central-southern area of the site that are of Roman date, probably within the latter half of the 2nd century AD. The artefactual evidence is consistent with substantial domestic occupation and a building in the immediate vicinity. The Roman pottery includes a Samian ware dish with a maker's stamp. The animal bone includes butchered cattle, horse and deer bone. Other finds include copper alloy coins, a pin, strap end, and a bronze or brass disc bearing the bust of an emperor, possibly part of a brooch or similar adornment. In the late 19th to early 20th century a Roman tessellated pavement (or bathhouse or crypt) was reported a short distance to the north of the site, possibly in the grounds of Grove House (HER LVM 018), but the details remained unconfirmed and anecdotal. Therefore the evidence from Bears Lane appears to add credence to the presence of a significant Roman building in the vicinity, including quantities of fragmented tegula and imbrex roof tile. The kiln may also relate to this structure, as it included large fragments of imbrex tile and an unusual half-box tile, which may have been backfilled from a nearby bathhouse. Alternatively it may indicate the kiln was designed as a furnace to heat a hypocaust or bathhouse (and it was not designed to fire pottery/tile, or serve as a corn drier). The peripheral nature of the site to the southern edge of the historic core of Lavenham was confirmed by a sparse number of post-medieval quarry pits and ditches. Very low quantities of residual prehistoric struck flint and pottery were also recovered, as was a medieval silver cut half penny of Henry III from the subsoil.