Holywells Park
The Background
The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded Ipswich Borough Council a project planning grant to pay for the investigations needed before work can begin to restore Holywells Park. Wessex Archaeology has been excavating a number of trial trenches to see if there are old surfaces and structures hidden under the ground which can tell us more about the history of the park.
External links: Heritage Lottery Fund, Ipswich Borough Council Tourism
View an online exhibition of this site by downloading the pdf below
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| Holywells park.pdf | 2.47 MB |
Prehistory at Holywells
Bronze Age metal workingThe park has a long history. People have lived in the area for thousands of years. Flint tools from the Stone Age have been found at Holywells, while Bronze Age axes and Roman coins have been discovered nearby.
The Manor
The earliest written records tell us that the area was part of the manor of Wyks Bishop, held by the Bishops of Norwich from the 13th century but we do not know whether or not they had a house on the site. During the reign of Henry VIII the manor was surrendered to the crown, and shortly afterwards granted to Sir John Jermy. There followed a succession of lords of the manor before the title was acquired by John Cobbold in 1812.
Water and Beer
It is the remarkable natural springs that give Holywells its character and have shaped its history. During the eighteenth century a succession of brewers worked here and used the waters to make beer. The Cobbold family owned land at Holy Wells from 1689. They had begun their brewery in Harwich but had problems with the water there and for many years used ships to transport water from Holywells to Harwich and to return to Ipswich with beer.
The Lost Gardens
Holywells House was built in the nineteenth century on the site of an old farmhouse. Its gardens, originally reflecting the Victorian taste, were redesigned in the twentieth century in accordance with the ideas of gardeners like Gertrude Jekyll. Now the house and gardens have gone. Only the stable block remains above ground, and the history of the park’s landscape is hidden below our feet.
Archaeological Investigations November 2004
The map below shows the extent of the Archaeological Investigations
Terrace
The two test pits dug on the terrace told us that the area has been built-up rather than cut into to create the terrace that is there today. The construction was mainly of sand and what appears to be eighteenth century The terrace todaybrick rubble. Perhaps this came from the farm that historical sources tell us pre-dated the house on this site. The terrace was then covered by a chalk surface or path 1-2 cm deep.
Lakes
Two trenches were dug around this area, one to the east and one to the west. The eastern most trench was made up of a mixture of sand, clay and rubble, but contained no evidence of the medieval field boundary we had hoped to find. The western trench however showed positive evidence for the presence of a channel or water course.
Twentieth Century Garden
Two trenches were opened in this area. In the first were found the remains of one of the garden paths, pictured in an early photograph. The brick rubble which underlay the path’s surface covered a land drain. More drainage was found in the other trench, along with the foundations of a wall. The garden has obviously had a complex history, and further analysis will be needed to work out the sequence of events here.
Bishop's Wyke
A trench was placed across the predicted location of the 12/13th century moat ditch but due to its depth, and flooding from the high water table, hand excavation of the ditch was not possible. However an auger survey was carried out ( using a kind of drill with a spiral tip which brings soil to the surface for analysis ). This allowed us to establish the shape of the original ditch, and how it had later been filled in with organic and sandy clays. Further Archaeologist augering the moat ditchnorth along the line of the moat, another auger survey showed that the embankment at this point is made up of sand quarried from elsewhere on site, to make a raised walkway across the moat, probably as part of the nineteenth century alterations to the grounds. The depth of the moat at this point was found to be 3.5m.
Recent geophysical workWe have had a geophysical survey carried out in the area within the moat. This was hampered by the magnetic effects of the play equipment but, where a clear survey was possible, it gave no evidence of any buildings. So the question of whether the moated site was ever occupied remains to be answered.
Beech Cottage
A trench to identify the ground plan of a cottage shown on the early nineteenth century maps found only post-medieval rubble, with no structural evidence remaining. It is possible that the cottage was totally demolished, foundations (which may have been shallow) and all: or perhaps the location shown on the old maps is inaccurate and the cottage lies elsewhere.
Lost Water Course
The upper part of a water course was found in our trenches. It had a clay lining and had filled up with natural sands. Shortly after excavation and recording the trench became totally immersed in water – the channel is still doing it’s job!
Visitors to the Excavations
On 23rd and 24th November over 100 people came to Holywells to find out more about the investigations in the park. Children from local schools and members of the Friends of Holywells, the Ipswich Society, Ipswich Borough Council and the Park Rangers took part in guided tours around the excavation over the two days. Phil Harding, the popular Time Team celebrity, who works for Wessex Archaeology, was one of the team of archaeologists working in the park. Visitors were delighted to have the chance to meet him and ask him questions.