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Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service
Bury Resource Centre
Hollow Road
Bury St Edmunds
IP32 7AY
An area of 177 square metres was excavated in 1979, to the immediate north of St. Mary Quay Church, following the granting of planning permission for a redevelopment of the site which was never implemented.
Excavation was restricted by the finance available to a sample of the western half of the site adjacent to the Foundation Street frontage.
The site was stripped to the top of the first recognisable level, which was generally the surface of the natural subsoil, sloping from 2.7m OD at the south to 2.3m OD at the north.
No features of either Iron Age or Roman date were identified but there were 179 sherds of Iron Age pottery and 153 Romano-British pottery sherds found in later features as well as nine residual Roman bronze coins. there were also 14 sherds of early Anglo-Saxon handmade pottery in later features.
Five pits were attributed to the Middle Saxon period(MS: c.650-c.850) and only one pit can be assigned to the Early Late Saxon period (ELS: c.850-900). There were no features identified from the Middle Late Saxon period (MLS: c.900-1000) and only seven sherds of St Neots ware from the whole site confirming this notable absence of occupation. Of the 969 sherds of Thetford ware from the site, 60% was in association with Early Medieval contexts.
The Early Medieval period (EMED: c.1000-1200) was represented by a total of twelve pits, a well and two foundation trenches. Four pits were identified as Late Medieval (LMED: c.1200-c.1450) and a brick-lined cellar represented the Late Medieval Transitional period (LMT: c.1450-1600).
Post-Medieval features include sewer trenches, two cellar bases and four pits
Further information can be found in the Site Summary which can be accessed by selecting the 'Reports' tab on the 'Downloads' page.