The Warbanks are an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

comprising irregular earthworks that straddle the A134 in the

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

parishes of

Lawshall Lawshall is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located around a mile off the A134 between Bury St Edmunds and Sudbury, it is part of Babergh district. The parish has nine settlements comprising the three main settlements of The S ...

, Cockfield and

Shimpling Shimpling is a village and civil parish in south Suffolk, England. About from Bury St Edmunds, it is part of Babergh district. The village is formed from two halves, the newer Shimpling Street and about away the old village of Shimpling. T ...

Features

The Warbanks are ancient defensive ditches that are situated on the eastern parish boundary of

and extend into the neighbouring parishes of Cockfield and

. They are of very ancient origin and comprise long ramparts and ditches crossed by a Roman road (now the A134) running between

Alpheton Alpheton is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. Located on the A134 road about six miles north of Sudbury, in 2005 it had a population of 260, reducing to 256 at the 2011 Census. According to Eilert Ekwall th ...

and

Bradfield Combust Bradfield Combust (or Burnt Bradfield) is a village and former Manorialism, manor and civil parish, now in the parish of Bradfield Combust with Stanningfield in Suffolk, England, located on the A134 road, A134 between Windsor Green and Great W ...

, just north of Thorn Corner. It was formerly a single defensive system but there are now three parts, the Lawshall section being the most prominent. Dense timber on either flank on the flat heavy boulder clay along with the ramparts of the Warbanks would have made this a notable military post. The Warbanks were certainly pre-Roman and may have been an earlier defence system. A late Bronze Age sword (now in the Moyse's Hall Museum in

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

) was found on the site of the Warbanks and has been dated as 800-600BC and could give a clue to the age of the banks. A small bronze bust of a woman was found within the earthworks. The hair of the woman is plaited in twelve twists and fastened on the top of the head with a bow and there is also the bronze handle of a knife or mirror with a crowned female head at the end. Neothlithic implements have also been found in the Warbanks.

Key dates

Suffolk County Council's Archaeological Service have identified the following: 1581: Section (b) named Le Barowe.
1834/4: Tithe Map: Section named as War Bank (wood).
1842: Named as War Bank on Tithe Map of Lawshall.
1978: The area was still being ploughed with the Warbanks just visible.
1998: Whole area of the Warbanks east of the A134 was metal detected with negative results.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warbanks, The Archaeological sites in Suffolk Bronze Age sites in Suffolk History of Suffolk Lawshall