NHER 1576 (Monument record) - Complex cropmark site including medieval moated manor of Gelham Hall

Site of Gelham Hall.
(S1) marks three sides of square moat, only one remaining. This is an amorphous pond. No trace of hall site, field
is ploughed. Fragments of brick and 19th century sherds.
E. Rose (NAU), 26 February 1976.

NAU aerial photographs revealed a second enclosure of the moat to the west, thus making it a single large enclosure divided down the middle. Also smaller enclosures around and a long east to west trackway.
E. Rose (NAU).

Undated find. On ploughed surface within moat.
One medieval coarse body sherd.
A. Rogerson (NAU), 10 July 1979.

Gelham Hall is so called from a family who held the manor. William de Gelham who died in the reign of Edward III (1312-77) seems to have been the last of the family.
See (S1) and (S2).
R. J. Rickett (NAU), 1 March 1990.

Winter 1983 to 1984.
Between remains of Gelham Hall moat and old railway line, 25m east of railway. Found on surface of ploughed field during bypass fieldwork (field numbered 87 for purposes of survey).
One sherd of samian ware Curle 15, and one Roman coarse body sherd.
NAU fieldwork. P. Millington-Wallace (NAU).
A. K. Gregory (NAU), 27 March 1984.

1987 to 1988. Metal detecting.
Silver knife or sword pommel cap with HC in black letters. Very fine object. Medieval.
See (S3) .
W. Milligan (NCM), 17 March 1988.

18 June 1990. NAU air photography.
Cropmarks of settlement adjacent to moat extend area considerably to north, including droveways and rectangular enclosures; and seem to show site NHER 16296 is part of this pattern and not a ring ditch after all.
E. Rose (NLA), 18 February 1994.

July 1996. Watching Brief.
Observations made of archaeological deposits disturbed during water pipe laying through moated enclosure of Gelham Hall. Excavations exposed to line of infilled eastern, internal and western moat ditches as well as two other possible linear features within the enclosed area. Predominantly filled with topsoil there were no finds from the features.
See report (S4) for further details. This work was also noted in (S9) and (S10).
A. Crowson (NAU) 7 August 1996.

July 1996.
Area about 80m square. Bare soil surface, weathered, on site of recently built and even more recently demolished house at [1].
No finds apart from two body sherds, one probable Roman, one medieval unglazed. See (S5).
In area of west arm of moat near point at which sewer trench due to cross, many fragments of medieval roofing tile. None collected.
A. Rogerson (NLA) October 1996.

July 2001. Norfolk NMP.
A complex series of cropmarks visible on NAU aerial photographs from 1974 and 1990 (S6) and (S7). It seems probable that the cropmarks represent multi-period activity in the area and are not all contemporary. To the south of the site is the large moated site (centre: [2]) that was the alleged location of Gelham Hall. The moat encloses an area with an east to west length 141m and a north to south length of 146m. Large ditches to the west and east of the most may well be associated with it and may have operated as feeder and overflow channels. A large ditch attached to the north of the moat may be the remains of a second moated enclosure or outwork.

To the north of the moat area complex series of linear features, largely aligned in east to west and north to south directions (S8). The ditches appear to be forming a series of rectangular enclosure, fields or allotments, ranging in size from 6m x 9m up to 18m x 35m, although the majority are closer to the larger dimension. The enclosure site NHER 16296 is one of these enclosures. There appears to be traces of numerous double ditched droveways or tracks within and running between the fields or enclosures.

These may be enclosures or garden features attached to and contemporary with the moat and hall, although it seems more probable that they are considerably earlier, and date from the Late Iron Age or Roman period. At the northern end of the site are a series of rounded discrete anomalies visible only on the edge of one NLA image (S6). These features may represent large pits or sunken featured buildings. There is no control for the edge of the image and these features have not been digitised. They have since been built over.
M. Brennand (NMP), 13 July 2001.

March-May 2015. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with construction of caravan and camping site at former picnic site adjacent to A149.
Although one of the new buildings coincides with the two east-north-east to west-south-west aligned linear cropmarks at TF 6787 3021 the associated groundworks revealed no corresponding remains.
See report (S11) and NHER 69554 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 October 2025.