| Title: |
Archaeological Excavations at Dunwich, Suffolk 2015 |
| Series: |
Access Cambridge Archaeology unpublished report series
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| Downloads: |
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accessca1-217670_1.pdf (4 MB)
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Download
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| Licence Type: |
ADS Terms of Use and Access
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| DOI |
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| Publication Type: |
Report (in Series)
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| Abstract: |
In summer 2015 community archaeological excavations were undertaken in the village of Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. The excavations were run by Access Cambridge Archaeology (ACA), funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund through Touching the Tide, and planned in consultation with English Heritage and the Dunwich Greyfriars Trust on whose land the dig was undertaken. A single trench was opened on the edge of the beach car park, three further trenches in Greyfriars wood on the cliff top, while nine 1m2 test pits targeted specific areas in between trenches and to the south. Trench 1 helped substantiate a prehistoric date for Pales Dyke and revealed traces of an earlier friary wall; trench 2 showed the land lay between Duck St and St James St to have been open despite being enclosed within the medieval line of Pales Dyke. Trench 3 exposed medieval floor surfaces associated with a medieval Holloway and trench 4 yielded evidence for early water management and harbour revetments. The test pits confirmed the depth of the tenement in trench 3 and the extent of open land to its south. The excavations have added weight to inferences that the area of top of the hill was locally important in the prehistoric period and that the Pales Dyke may have originated as an Iron Age enclosure. They have also indicated that there is potential shown for Anglo-Saxon evidence to survive. Most substantial, however, is the discovery that traces of the remaining medieval town are still present under the woods and roads of Dunwich village today. These will be lost given the high risk of further coastal erosion and must be considered a high priority for further investigation. |
| Author: |
Carenza Lewis
C Ranson
Nina O'Hare
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| Publisher: |
Access Cambridge Archaeology
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| Other Person/Org: |
Historic England (OASIS Reviewer)
Suffolk HER (OASIS Reviewer)
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| Year of Publication: |
2016
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| Locations: |
| Site: |
Dunwich |
| County: |
Suffolk |
| District: |
Suffolk Coastal |
| Parish: |
DUNWICH |
| Country: |
England |
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Grid Reference: 647840, 270376 (Easting, Northing)
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Grid Reference: 647861, 270487 (Easting, Northing)
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Grid Reference: 647880, 270562 (Easting, Northing)
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Grid Reference: 647870, 270700 (Easting, Northing)
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| Subjects / Periods: |
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| Identifiers: |
| OASIS Id: |
accessca1-217670 |
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| Note: |
A4, double sided, 143 pages
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| Source: |
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| Relations: |
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| Created Date: |
18 Aug 2017 |
