NHER 2258 (Monument record) - Tasburgh Hillfort

Hillfort, presumed Iron Age, but possibly Late Saxon burgh.

19th century. Roman coin found.
1948. Inconclusive excavation.
1970, 1973. Late Saxon and medieval sherds and flints found.

1975. Excavation on defences.
Excavation of a small area in the south-west corner, beneath 1 meter of post-medieval overburden, a layer which is perhaps later then the 12th century sealed a number of features, most of them being pits. The purpose of these features is not very defined, but they do contain Ipswich ware, Thetford ware and early medieval pottery.
Information from (S3).
Small finds included medeival strap fitting (S5 and S6), strap-end (S7 and S8), knife (S5, S9, S10 amd S11), strike-a-light (S5, S9, S12 and S13), buckle (S5, S9 and S14) complete and incomplete pins, (S5, S9, S15 and S16), a socketed arrowhead (?S5, ?S9, ?S17) an unidentified copper alloy object (S5, S9 and S18) and a loom weight (S19 and S20).
M. Langham-Lopez (HES), 10 June 2013.

1976 and 1979. Medieval sherds found.

1980. Excavation.
Carried out in the south-west corner of what was thought to be an Iron Age hillfort. This excavation produced a scatter of lpswich-type and also Thetford-type ware, found under the tail of the bank and above a substantial flint industry which had Middle Neolithic sherds. This would then indicate that at least part of the hillfort is dated to the late 9th century.
Information taken from (S4).
M. Langham-Lopez (HES), 14 June 2013.

1981. Medieval wall excavated.
1981-84. Finds of medieval sherds and flints.
1990. Excavation by NAU revealed Neolithic and medieval pits and ditches etc.

1994. Systematic Fieldwalking and Metal-detecting Survey.
Gridded survey failed to find any significant concentrations within the earthwork. Finds recovered included a weak scatter of prehistoric worked flints and tiny amounts of Roman, Middle Saxon, Late Saxon and medieval pottery and medieval metalwork. No prehistoric pottery was recovered -
these results question an Iron Age date for the earthwork.
See summary in (S25).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 13 March 2017.

1996. Earthwork survey.
See plan (S22). This survey is also noted in (S23).

1997. Stray Find.
Found in northern part of interior before put down to grass:
1 Late Saxon pottery sherd.
4 medieval pottery sherds.
1 post-medieval pottery sherd.
Identified by A. Rogerson (NLA).
Information from (S26). See sketches (S27).

See full details, schedule, photographs, press cuttings in file.
E. Rose (NLA), March 1996

14 June 1996. NLA aerial photography.
Photographs taken of Tasburgh hillfort.
S. Massey (NLA), 8 August 2001.

10 September 1997. Watching Brief.
Excavation of foundations for conservatory at the rear of 'Owl's Wood'. No archaeologically significant features or deposits.
See report (S21).
C. Phillips (NAU), September 1997.

June 2006.
Scheduled monument consent granted concerning the errection of a bench seat.
See (S1) for further details
H. White (NLA), 6 April 2009.

May 2014. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with the installation of underground electricity cables in the churchyard of St Mary’s Church (NHER 10104) and the grounds of the Old Rectory (NHER 43904).
The trench excavated through the churchyard exposed a disturbed graveyard subsoil that contained rare fragments of human bone and post-medieval roof tile. No archaeologically significant features were observed.
The trench excavated along the driveway exposed a dark brown soil layer beneath the make-up deposits associated with the driveway itself. No archaeologically significant features were observed. A single sherd of handmade Iron Age or Early Saxon pottery and a fragment of worked stone were the only finds recovered in this area.
The excavation of a joint bay where the two cable routes merged was not monitored.
See report (S24) for further details.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.256).
P. Watkins (HES), 31 October 2016. Amended 19 May 2019.