Post-medieval waterlogged timber building,up-draught kilns and features at St Osyths Priory Park, St Osyth (EHER 46878)

Evaluation revealed a post-medieval waterlogged timber structure, an up-draught kiln with two firing tunnels and associated waster pits, and lateral drainage ditches. Archaeological excavation revealed two post-medieval ditches and one deposit with a post-medieval finds assemblage within.

September 2008. Trial trenching. The archaeological evaluation was commissioned in advance of a proposed residential development. The site is adjacent to the SAM associated with the priory and registered park and garden, and the area has a number of crop marks. One hundred features were excavated from 35 trenches, most were pits and ditches. Finds were sparse and mostly represent the post-medieval period. Among the excavated features was a post-medieval waterlogged timber structure in the vicinity of the older creek bed, an early post-medieval up-draught kiln with two firing tunnels for the production of peg tiles, associated waster pits, lateral drainage ditches, and a series of post-medieval garden features. The square shallow pits in Trench 18, originally thought to represent post-medieval garden features, may represent extraction pits for the acquisition of clay from sometime during the lifetime of the kiln. Pit F1112, also in Trench 14 just a few metres from the kiln, may have been a waster pit. Trench 1 was of interest in that contained the preserved remains of a timber structure associated with the older creek bed. The structure (1.6m+ x 0.10m x 0.12m) consisted of three courses of single timbers, laid flat, aligned NE-SW. The timbers were equal in size (100mm x 40mm) and well cut with smooth faces and crisp squared corners. The middle timber appears to have split lengthwise at some point after construction. Upright within the Northern baulk of the trench at the NE end of the timber frame was a single wooden post. This post (0.54m+ x 0.18m x 0.14m) was generally round with one flat side and a flat base. The frame and upright post were originally inserted into the lower layers of the freshwater alluvial deposit, above the marine deposit, creating a stable foundation for an overlying superstructure. No foundation cut was visible. The structure is of mortise and tenon construction and was likely accompanied by a wattle fence extension, evidenced by an alignment of postholes. The spatial relationship of these features within the trench and the content of the surrounding fill suggests a 17th century date. <1> June 2021. Archaeological excavation. Two post-medieval ditches and one deposit were investigated by the excavation. The first ditch, in Area 1, was dated to between the 16th and 18th centuries based on the presence of three sherds of post-medieval red earthenware from its fill. The ditch follows a similar alignment as two adjacent medieval ditches (also excavated) and as such may be a recut or created for a similar purpose. The ditches ran down the slight natural slope of the site towards St Osyth Creek to the South, suggesting that they might have served a drainage function. The second ditch dominated the NW part of Area 2 and extended beyond the limits of the excavation area. It contained four sherds of pottery (23g), CBM (1733g), animal bone (4g), slag (21g), two iron nails (25g), three fragments of clay pipe (8g), coal (12g), shale (13g), and a small piece of slate (2g). The feature itself was identified as a modern construction cut and the finds assemblage is considered consistent with a 17th to 19th century date range. Lastly, overlying the medieval kilns in the NW corner of Area 4 was a firm, dark brown-grey silty clay deposit. Although this deposit contained 913g of the same type of medieval brick that was recovered from the kilns, and was potentially used in their construction, a later date is suggested by the recovery of two sherds (26g) of mid 17th to 19th century pottery. <2>