Scottish Power Renewables Site 30, Waldringfield, Suffolk. Post-Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design

Between 24th November and 7th December 2017, Archaeological Solutions Ltd (AS) carried out an archaeological excavation at Site 30, to the immediate northwest of Waldringfield, Suffolk. The excavation at Site 30 (WLD 069) encountered a concentration of moderately sized postholes and adjacent large pits, containing late Bronze Age/early Iron material. Some of these features probably represent a substantial post-built structure. The architectural form of this building is unclear, but the absence of linear alignments of postholes suggests a round house with an outer diameter of c.15m. Passing through the approximate centre of the concentration of discrete posthole and pit features were two N-S ditches, the fills of which also contained late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pottery. The stratigraphic relationships between the discrete features and ditches require verification, but it is thought probable that the post-built structure preceded the creation of the first linear ditch. The charcoal-rich post-pipes in the postholes suggest that the structure may have burnt down. The double-ditch arrangement at Site 30, is mirrored by similar, parallel double-ditches c.140-150m to the west in Site 29C (MRM 173), and c.140-150m to the west at Site 31 (WLD 070). In the northeast end of Site 30 two right-angle ditches, one containing late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pottery may comprise the southwest corner of a rectangular enclosure. The precise chronological relationship between this possible enclosure and either the (round-house) structure and N-S re-cut boundary ditches, is unknown at present. The only other dated features at Site 30 were two sections of north-south oriented ditches which contained medieval (12-16th century AD) pottery, and probably represent medieval field boundaries; both these ditches were recorded as being cut by larger east-west ditches which probably, though devoid of dated finds, probably represent post-medieval field/sub-field ditches.