Test Pit 4:         High Street

1st June 2013

By Martin Cuthbert

Test Pit 4 was located on the west side of the High Street at its northern end, just south of “Castle Mound”, a scheduled ancient monument. The property once formed a stable block relating to a neighbouring property.

The purpose of the castle mound is still unknown. Was it a Medieval motte and bailey castle? A prehistoric or Saxon burial mound? We hoped this test pit could answer these questions.

Test pit 4 was more successful than next doors test pit. Just like 47 High Street the team did so well to get dig down over a metre!! A huge depth of soil was encountered and the natural geology wasn’t reached, but a small number of pottery sherds were discovered. 

The limited assemblage of pottery recovered from the lower made ground deposit of TP4 (018), dated to 975-1600. The assemblage suggests that the site has been in use from the late Saxon period through to the later medieval period.  There is little evidence of activity after AD1650 until the Victorian period, when the current houses (then stables) were constructed on the site.

A huge thank you to all our volunteers, Paul from LBDAHS, Paul Blinkhorn for the pottery analysis and Sue for letting us dig a hole in her garden.