NHER 32152 (Designed Landscape record) - The Grove, Gunton Park

9 to 15 December 1996. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation carried out by NAU to test survival of park features revealed a curving bank and postholes, apparently prehistoric.
Evaluation trenching for The Grove, Gunton Park Association in the 18th century garden revealed the existence of an earthwork, a curving bank with a ditch on both inner and outer sides, and a line of post holes to the west. Rather than having origins as a post-medieval landscape feature, limited excavation raised the possibility of a prehistoric date for the earthwork, although this must remain uncertain.
Finds recovered included potboilers and Bronze Age and undated pottery.
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 : 2025.130).
D. Gurney (NLA) 1997. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 8 April 2015 and 24 August 2025.

March 1997. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of importance produced after completion of archaeological evaluation.
The Grove, to the north of Gunton Hall, is an area of ornamental woodland cut with geometric paths focused on a circular clearing. The Grove is planted with oak and sweet chestnut, and some of the planting may date back to the late 17th century. The Grove was designed by Charles Bridgeman, and a plan of the Grove dated 1730 is reproduced in (S3). The plan shows three terraces running along the approach to the Mount (NHER 6818), and although earthwork terraces have been surveyed in this area of the Grove, they appear to be natural rather than artificial. The Grove was extended in the mid 18th century, and is shown on an estate map of 1754, also reproduced in (S3).
See report (S3) for further details, including information on earthwork features identified within The Grove.
S. Spooner (NLA) 2 February 2006. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 8 April 2015.