NHER 1233 (Monument record) - Earthwork bank and post medieval clay pit at Windsor Terrace

1969. Excavation.
Brief excavation to test the hypothesis that the earth bank was of natural origin and to obtain archaeological confirmation of the documentary evidence for medieval and later heightening.
The east lip of the ditch, which was originally over 8m (26 feet) wide, had been removed by a 19th-century pit. This extended to the east end of the trench and contained a mass of building rubble in a sticky clay matrix. It was probably an abandoned clay pit, perhaps serving the brick kilns to the north of Exton's Road (NHER 13528) and filled in around 1860 when houses were built on Russell Street. The ditch itself was relatively shallow with an almost flat bottom that sloped slightly eastwards to its lowest point at 0.6m (2 feet) OD. The lowest 0.6m (2 feet) of filling consisted of a sticky clay silt without finds. Above this was a layer of building rubble and dirty clay 0.9m (3 feet) thick which contained 19th century pottery.
The core of the bank was undoubtedly natural, characterised by its cockle-shell content and consisting of a dump of clayey brickearth streaked with lens-shaped patches of blue clay. The extent of this natural core was limited. Above this were two layers of green-brown clay loams of low organic content which could only be differentiated when separated by thin patches of grey loam which may represent redeposited turf. There was virtually no evidence for tip lines within these two layers which can be treated as a single deposit. The only finds from this deposit were two body sherds of red ware, probably 18th century. The surface of this deposit was heavily eroded and entirely covered with pebbles. Above this layer beneath the topsoil and turf was a collection of mid-20th century rubbish.
See (S1) for further information.
See also (S2).
E. Rose (NAU), amended by A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 15 January 2019.