10 West Road
Cambridge CB3 9DZ
A talk by Dr Abby Antrobus on ‘Medieval remains from Sizewell C: exploring the landscape of Leiston Abbey’
OCA archaeologists working on the Sizewell C excavations near the ruins of the abbey’s second site
Archaeological works in advance of the construction of Sizewell C are being undertaken by OCA, a partnership between Oxford Archaeology and Cotswold Archaeology. The project is one of the largest in the East of England, with ongoing investigation of over 70 sites. While remains have been recorded from across the millennia, this talk focusses on the medieval period and the opportunity that the scale of the project provides for exploration of activity around the sites of Leiston Abbey, a house of Premonstratensian Canons. The abbey was founded in 1182 on an island within Minsmere but with increased storms and flooding, was moved inland in the mid 14th century. The community held one of the largest and most compact property portfolios in Suffolk, centred on Leiston, and the excavations promise insights into uses of the landscape, filling a gap in the coverage of documentary records and prompting exploration of responses to historical, climatic and coastal change.
OCA archaeologists working on a complex of medieval ovens on one of the excavations for Sizewell C
Abby Antrobus is a Senior Publications Officer at Cotswold Archaeology. She previously worked at Suffolk County Council’s Archaeological Service, advising on archaeology and development management, and has worked for Historic England and field teams in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Her doctoral thesis (University of Durham) was a study of the medieval town of Bury St Edmunds.
