Land South of Cavendish Road, Clare, Suffolk: An Archaeological Evaluation

The requirements for the investigation were set out in a Brief for a Trenched Archaeological Evaluation issued by SCCAS (SCCAS 2025). The evaluation consisted of the excavation and investigation of 1140m of trial trench (38no. 30m trenches at 1.8m wide) within the site, which equates to a 4% sample evaluation of the area impacted by the proposed scheme. The trenches were positioned both to investigate anomalies of potential archaeological interest identified by the geophysical survey and to provide even coverage of the site. The results of the evaluation indicate evidence for some limited activity on the site during the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age. However, there are no features on the site that conclusively date to this period. There is some likelihood that a small abraded prehistoric pottery assemblage recovered from two parallel trackway ditches is residual; the dating of these features therefore remains uncertain. An undated circular burnt stone feature, and some postholes are suggestive of some, albeit limited past activity on the site. Late medieval to postmedieval chalk and flint extraction pits were identified along the northern edge of the site, alongside Cavendish Road. Parallel post-medieval field boundary ditches were also identified which correspond to anomalies on the geophysical survey. One of these ditches is represented on the 1847 Clare Tithe Map.