ANCIENT EARTHWORKS 



MISCELLANEOUS EARTHWORKS 



[Class X] 



Bredfield (Ixvii, 8). — 'Oliver's Ditches,' 4 miles north from Wood- 

 bridge, are artificial trenches 8 ft. deep ; they describe an ellipse around a 

 large area in which is situated the site of a rectangular camp dealt with in 

 Class C ; they also extend to the south, taking a serpentine course, and pro- 

 tecting another area. These were evidently excavated for defensive purposes, 

 but their origin is unknown. 



Bury St. Edmunds (xliv, 11), — In a district called Haberdon, to the 

 south-east of the town and east of Southgate Street, the only remaining 

 earthwork defences of Bury lie in a field. An escarpment facing south-east 

 by south is 14 ft. in depth, v/ith a fosse having a counterscarp of 6 ft. ; the 

 outer scarp is 5 ft. 8 in., and is a very gentle slope. Branching from the fosse 

 and facing due south is another entrenchment with a scarp of 2 ft. 4 in., and a 

 counterscarp of i ft. 6 in., with an outer bank i ft. high. Towards the east 

 it has been mutilated by field drainage, and to the north by digging for 

 gravel. 



Cavenham (xxxii, 3). — 'Black Ditches,' a series of banks and trenches, 

 commence on the northern edge of Cavenham Heath, about ^ a mile south- 

 west of Icklingham, and extend for i of a mile towards the south-east. 

 Traces of these Ditches again appear on the west side of Long Plantation, and 

 finally terminate on Risby Poor's Heath. Signs of primitive habitations 

 abound here, and tumuli lie to the north. 



CocKFiELD (Ixiii, 4). — 'The Warbanks ' ; see Lawshall. 



CoDDENHAM (Ixvi, 2). — On the road from Ipswich to Eye, east of 

 Needham Market, is 'Stonewalls,' a bank inclosing about lo acres, and at 

 the north-east corner, close to the road, is a high wooded hill known as 

 ' Beacon Hill.' 



Cratfield (xxxviii, 2). — In a field to the south of the village are broad 

 banks forming three sides of a square. 



Eye (xxxvi, 3). — North-east of Eye Castle, and west of the River Dove, 

 is a series of fish-ponds of the Benedictine priory founded here by Robert 

 Malet. 



Great Welnetham (liv, 12). — To the east of the hamlet of Sickles- 

 mere, 2i miles south by east from Bury St. Edmunds, the base of a rounded 

 slope is scarped to a depth of 8 ft., upon which a fragment of a rampart 3 ft. 

 high remains. This looks towards the south across the site of the ancient 

 mere — formed by the waters of the River Lark — and confronts another site 

 which has yielded abundant relics of Roman occupation. 



Around the north and west sides of the area from which Roman relics 

 have been excavated, and extending far towards the south-west, is a manorial 

 bank. 



Havergate Island (Ixxviii, 6). — Within the widened waters of the 

 River Ore is a tract of land surrounded by a bank which has been called an 

 ancient ' mud sheep fold,' but the work is preserved to keep the island from 

 inundation. 



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