NHER 1422 (Find Spot record) - Multi-period finds, Heacham brickworks

Various objects were recovered at Heacham brickworks during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. See NHER 59930 for further information on the brickworks themselves.

1846. Stray Find.
Flat copper alloy axe 99mm long, 49mm wide. Information from (S1). This object was exhibited at a meeting of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia in March 1911 (S2) and is now held by the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1926.48). It is also noted in (S3), (S4) and (S5).
E. Rose (NAU). Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 16 December 2013.

January 1903.
'Beautifully worked little javelin head' found here by Mr. Ingleby, owner.
Information from (S6).
E. Rose (NAU)

Pre 1906. Stray Find.
This brickworks (NHER 59930) is the probable findspot for an object that B. Lowerison believed to be a rechipped Palaeolithic implement. This was the inspiration for one of a series of fictional historical stories that he published in 1906 (S7). The implement ('Coo's axe') is illustrated in (S7) and described as displaying evidence for two phases of working. The earlier flake scars had a ochreous patina that was lacking from the secondary flaking, leading to the suggestion that this was a Palaeolithic implement that had been reworked in the Neolithic. At this time the object was in the Heacham museum, in the possession of (and perhaps also found by) H. Ingleby. The sources listed in (S8) suggest that this implement is the sole reason for Heacham being listed as a findspot for Palaeolithic implements. This object was exhibited at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries and is noted and illustrated in (S9) and also mentioned in (S4), (S5), (S10) and (S11). It is noted on (S15), but this is little more than a reference to (S8). See photograph in file (S12).

In (S9) it is stated that this object was found in a pit, a possible location of which was suggested on (S13) (TF 676 368). It is however recorded in (S14) that it had been found "...at the brick yard…"; most likely a reference to the Mount Pleasant brickworks (which was run by H. Ingleby, see NHER 59930).

This artefact was given to the British Museum in 1919 (1919 2-6 1) and it appears that most now view it as a rolled partly polished Neolithic axehead.
Previously recorded as NHER 1420.
P. Watkins (HES), 16 December 2013.

Pre August 1976. Stray Find.
Antoninus of Carausius (rev: female figure) found.
Shown to KLM on 21 August 1976.
E. Rose (NAU).