Archaeological Evaluation. Land East of Westerfield Road, Westerfield, Suffolk

The archaeological evaluation composed of 135 trenches, the majority measuring 30m by 2m, deployed across the c.16ha site. The trench locations overlay the results of the geophysical survey of the site (Tigergeo 2023) as well as providing a sample of the whole site. 49 trenches were found to contain archaeological features, comprising ditches, gullies, pits and postholes that were spread across most of the site, with concentrations in the north-east. No correlation between the plotted geophysical anomalies and the archaeological remains was found. A small quantity of pre- Iron Age archaeological features was recorded, containing small groups of prehistoric pottery sherds and worked and burnt flints, and occurring in the south and eastern parts of the site. The majority of dated remains comprised parallel drainage or cultivation ditches /trenches, located in the north-east. Most contained small amounts of probable Early to Middle Iron Age pottery, which suggest agricultural land use that may be associated with contemporary settlements and field systems found to the south at the Ipswich Northern Fringe and Henley Gate sites. Conversely, similar parallel ditch/trench systems found at the above sites are posited to be Roman or medieval in date, which could mean that the small amounts of earlier material collected at the current site are residual. Other Iron Age features were found sporadically across site in the west, south and east. Archaeological material from the Late Iron Age/early Roman period was found sparsely across site, with only a few individual pottery sherds recovered; nearly all were found as residual finds in possibly post-medieval features. No medieval features were recorded; however, a low frequency of post-medieval/modern features were found across the site which comprised ditches and gullies related to agricultural land use.