MONUMENT NO. 391898

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Site of Medieval town ditch

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[TM 331 901] Earthwork [TI].(1)

A deep ditch extended E and W to two bends in the river Waveney,
cutting off Outney Common from the town of Bungay and materially
strengthening the northern defences of the castle. It has been
suggested that the ditch might be a Roman work, but there is no
positive evidence of this, and it may have been dug by the
Bigots, who used the materials obtained to raise the huge
barriers of earth around their castle. (See TM 38 NW 15)
Bungay was granted to Roger Bigot soon after Domesday by the
Conqueror.(2,3)

An anonymous and undated map in Bungay Museum (approx. 1/2500) -
reproduced in Bungay Castle Guide (TM 38 NW 15) shows this
earthwork as "Tower Ditch" and traces it south-east and
south-west to encircle the probable Medieval town (line
superimposed on 6" field sheet). The topographical situation
would support this classification (i.e. for the whole of the
distance it is shown as running along the high crop above a
flood plain) rather than the suggestion of authy.2.
Modern development has now removed all evidence of the work.(4)

TM33628955. A trial trench revealed the town ditch which measures
18m wide and 4m deep, and was backfilled in the late C13th or C14th. (5,6)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1957.

( 2) General reference

Hist. & Ants. of Suffolk 1 1846 131. (A.Suckling)

( 3) Field Investigators Comments

F1 FDC 01-APR-68

(4) General reference

Mediaeval Archaeol 28 1984 241. (Wade KR)

(5) General reference

Proc Suffolk Inst Archaeol Hist 35 1984 327.

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