NHER 29582 (Monument) - Wilby Shrunken Village, Quidenham

Noted on 1946 RAF air photograph and visited during NLA/RCHME earthwork survey.
A substantial complex of village earthworks including hollow ways, tofts, a trapezoidal moat and other enclosures, mostly in grassland. Now the grassland comprises about 30% of that in 1946 with few of the more distinctive features remaining. The hollow ways and trapezoidal moat are still evidence in the arable.
Late Saxon and medieval sherds.
Medieval tiles.
See separate, more detailed entries for specific fields in file.
B. Cushion (NLA) March 1993.

Source suggests that the reference to the site of a manor partly in decay and surrounded by a moat in 1566-1619 refers really to these earthworks and not the present Wilby Hall.
E. Rose (NLA) 26 September 1995.

Site partly pasture, partly arable as in 1993. Arable ploughed to 20cm (8in) and 10cm (4in) in ownerships [1] and [2]. Pasture grazed by pedigree cattle in ownership [3].
Ownership plan in file.
H. Paterson (NLA) 18 November 1996.

August 2001. Trial Trenching. Contexts 50-73.
Evaluation at Meadow Farm.
Revealed possible evidence of Late Saxon/early medieval structure and evidence of post-medieval activity.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2).
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2024.177)
D. Gurney (NLA) 5 October 2001. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 31 March 2015 and 20 October 2024.

October 2005. Excavation. Contexts 100-148.
Excavation on site of earlier evaluation at Meadow Farm.
Revealed a series of parallel linear features which appeared to be Late Saxon, and differently aligned ditches of possibly medieval and post-medieval date. Also a single undated post hole.
The features identified during the evaluation that were thought to represent a structure were actually found to be converging boundary features.
The limited range of features present and the small artefactual assemblage recovered suggests that this area lay on the periphery of the village throughout the historic periods.
See report (S3) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S4).
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.86).
J. Allen (NLA) 16 February 2006. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 18 May 2019.

July 2012. Norfolk NMP.
Earthworks of the shrunken village of Wilby are clearly visible on several aerial photographs (S5-S12). They have been mapped as they vary in places from the descriptions in the file, probably because the earthworks were largely visible on grassland on the earliest photographs, and had not been eroded by arable farming to such an extent.
To the south of Wilby Farm House, in the field centred on TM 0333 8954, three possible parallel banks are visible, running roughly north-south. These had been recorded as a possible enclosure (field A6 on map in file), but it seems more likely that they represent medieval to post medieval land division related to the farm.
To the west (field G1 in file), another north-south linear bank and a broader east-west platform with a ditch to the north are visible, centred on TM 0321 8961.
A possible rectangular enclosure is visible in the next field to the west (A1), centred on TM 0311 8961. It measures 73m by 27m internally, and may represent a croft and/or possible toft.
A possible trackway or hollow way is visible to the north, stretching into the field to the east (field G2) from TM 0305 8965 to TM 0321 8968.
Further to the east (field G3) to the north of Wilby Farm House, a possible platform is visible in the western half of the field, centred on TM 0327 8975. To the east, possible ditched enclosures are visible, centred on TM 0331 8975. A possible former pond is also visible centred on TM 0333 8977.
In the field to the east (G4) an L-shaped ditch and depression are visible, centred on TM 0339 8980, as well as a possible bank or platform to the east, centred on TM 0341 8981. The other ditch features in this field are thought to be post medieval drainage ditches, as they run into existing watercourses.
To the north, in the fields surrounding Meadow Farm (A2, A4, A5 and G5), centred on TM 0326 9005, there are a number of possible enclosures which are likely to relate to tofts.
To the north east (in fields A3 and G6) a large trapezoidal ditched enclosure is visible, centred on TM 0338 9037. It measures 89m by a maximum of 92m internally, and appears to contain a pond and possible platform (caused by probable spoil deposition) in its north-west corner, although these features may relate to modern drainage, and it is difficult to be certain whether they are archaeological, as with many of the earthworks in this area, some of which appear more likely to be modern drainage features.
In the north of the area, some of the features are visible as cropmarks on more recent aerial photographs (S11). In the field centred on TM 0320 9036, some of the ditch features are visible as ‘lodging’ in the crop, and whilst it is clear that some of these ditches represent field boundaries on the Tithe map (S13), and have therefore not been mapped, there are also some additional features that may be archaeological. Three possible pit features are also visible as cropmarks and have been mapped, centred on TM 0323 9039 and TM 0304 9035 although it is also probable that these features represent geological marks, as there is a large amount of background geology visible as cropmarks in this area.
E. Bales (NMP), 10 July 2012.