Page:VCH Suffolk 1.djvu/703

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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. 623