Anglian Water New Water Main, Eriswell Road, Lakenheath, Suffolk: Continuous Archaeological Monitoring and Recording

The archaeological monitoring and recording comprised the observation by a competent archaeologist of all intrusive groundworks associated with the replacement water main. The new water main itself was to be drilled beneath the ground rather than laid in an open-cut trench. Contractors excavated a number of 'drill pits' and several trial-holes to confirm the presence and depth of existing services, within the verges alongside part of Eriswell Road. The drill pits and trial-holes were excavated by contractors using a mechanical excavator equipped with a toothless bucket. Excavation was conducted under archaeological supervision down to the top of the underlying surface geology. Five of the trial-holes were vacuum-excavated to expose existing services. The small size of these interventions and the vacuum method of excavation only allowed for the work to be observed rather than directly supervised by an archaeologist. One test pit was hand dug alongside a modern service access cover. The twenty contractor excavations that were recorded were numbered as TP1 to TP20, these numbers being assigned in the order they were excavated. The size of each excavation varied according to the contractors' requirements. Between July and August 2024, Cotswold Archaeology carried out a programme of Continuous Archaeological Monitoring and Recording during groundworks associated with the replacement of a water main along Eriswell Road, Lakenheath, Suffolk. A number of Drill pits and test excavations were monitored but, other than made ground deposits related to the modern road, no archaeological deposits or artefacts were identified.