NHER 33423 (Monument record) - Prehistoric, Roman and post-Roman features

December 1997. Test Pitting.
Eleven test pits excavated in advance of borehole survey.
An undated ditch terminus was exposed in one of the test pits excavated in the field to the south of Lodge Farm.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2).
D. Gurney (NLA), 10 February 1998. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 21 November 2016.

September 2011. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of large proposed development area surrounding Lodge Farm.
See report (S3) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 21 November 2016.

June 2013. Systematic Fieldwalking and Metal-detecting Survey.
Field survey of large proposed development area surrounding Lodge Farm.
This work recovered only a small assemblage of finds, comprising:
2 Early Neolithic flint scrapers, 1 blade and 5 flakes.
1 ?prehistoric burnt flint.
1 post-medieval pottery sherd.
2 post-medieval/modern pantile fragments.
1 undated basalt whetstone.
No metal objects that pre-dated the modern period were recovered.
See report (S4) for further details.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2019.215).
P. Watkins (HES), 21 November 2016. Amended 24 June 2019.

July 2013. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of large proposed development area.
This survey revealed a number of potentially archaeologically significant linear anomalies, the majority of which appear to correspond with previously identified cropmark features (NHER 31518). These include an east-to-west aligned positive linear anomaly identified in the field to the east of Lodge Farm and a cluster of linear anomalies in the field to the south of the farm. Two additional linear anomalies were also identified in the fields to the west of Lodge Farm. It should be noted that the survey failed to identify any evidence for many of the previously mapped cropmark features.
Linear anomalies that did not correspond with previously identified cropmark features included a group of probable ditches at the southern edge of the easternmost field. It is possible that these features formed two sides of an enclosure.
Small discrete positive anomalies identified in a number of locations may indicate the position of pits or other archaeologically-significant remains.
The remaining anomalies are all thought to have been of modern origin. An area of considerable disturbance identified to the south-east of Lodge Farm corresponds with the known site of a demolished post-medieval house and a nearby pond (NHER 13634).
See report (S5) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 21 November 2016.

January and November-December 2014. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of large proposed development area surrounding Lodge Farm. The trial trenching was undertaken in two phases, with a total of 94 trenches excavated. Many of the trenches were positioned to investigate the previously identified geophysical anomalies and cropmark features (NHER 31518). Unfortunately during the second phase of trenching it was recognised that a serious surveying error had resulted in many of the Phase 1 trenches being incorrectly placed. In most cases the exact positions of these trenches remain uncertain and as a result it is difficult to correlate the excavated features with the previously identified cropmarks. A reasonably large number of features were revealed including many ditches and gullies and a range of discrete features. It is notable that only a small number of these features had been identified by the earlier geophysical survey. Although in many cases it is not easy to match the excavated remains with particular cropmarks it is clear that many are probably associated with sub-surface remains. This work also exposed many previously unidentified features. Unfortunately relatively few stratified finds were recovered and as a result the bulk of the excavated features remain undated.
Evidence for prehistoric activity on the site included almost 300 worked flints, the majority of which were recovered from unstratified topsoil contexts. A small number of these flints were of probable Early Neolithic date, including blade cores, blades and a number of scrapers made on blades. No Early Neolithic pottery was recovered and there was no evidence that any of the excavated features were associated with this phase of activity. The bulk of the worked flint assemblage is more typical of later prehistoric industries and includes a range of implements often associated with Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age industries, as well as a small number of cruder pieces of possible Mid to Late Bronze Age or even Early Iron Age date. A small number of discrete features produced undiagnostic Late Neolithic/Bronze Age pottery sherds and are therefore considered to be of probable prehistoric date. These features included a pair of small circular pits in the western field (one of which also produced a small assemblage of later prehistoric knapping waste including several cores) and three pits in the eastern field. Samples taken from these potentially prehistoric features produced no plant macrofossils. Although several Late Neolithic/Bronze Age sherds were also recovered from ditches in the southern field these were most likely residual.
The finds recovered suggest a number of the excavated features were probable of Iron Age or Roman date, including at least of some of those that are likely to correspond with the main group of cropmarks to the south of Lodge Farm. Although the majority of the features excavated in this part of the site were undated the small number of finds recovered included a number of Iron Age pottery sherds. Remains of probable Roman date were also identified, including a cluster of linear and discrete features in one trench that produced the bulk of the Roman pottery sherds recovered. A feature that lay close to this cluster was recorded as a possible kiln flue, although it is unclear why it was interpreted as such, particularly as it appears to have produced no finds. A number of the ditches identified in other parts of the site can also be tentatively dated to the Roman period, although it must be emphasised that the dating evidence was sparse. Potentially Roman features include a ditch at the edge of the western field that appears to correspond with a previously identified cropmark enclosure. One of the possible enclosure ditches at the southern end of the eastern field also produced Roman pottery and a fragmentary Iron Age or Roman triangular loomweight was found in a nearby pit. A sample from this ditch produced a plant macrofossil assemblage that contained numerous cereal grains, with free-threshing wheat the most abundant (which is unusual in Roman contexts). A small amount of Roman pottery was also recovered from an east-to-west aligned ditch in the central part of the eastern field that corresponds with both a cropmark and a geophysical anomaly. This ditch appears to be a continuation of a feature that was investigated during the excavation of a site to the east, although the dating evidence is clearly inconsistent as this ditch was regarded as Early Iron Age (see NHER 37646 for further details). The Roman pottery assemblage suggests that this phase of activity may have been relatively short lived, with the bulk of the material recovered unlikely to have been in use after the end of the 1st century AD.
There was only limited evidence for subsequent activity on the site, with a small assemblage of potentially Saxon pottery sherds the only post-Roman finds that weren’t of modern date. It does however appear likely that remains associated with post-Roman activity probably included a diffuse scatter of over 20 features described as ‘fire pits’. These shallow sub-circular pits were characterised by dark, charcoal-rich fills and were in some cases associated with evidence for in-situ burning. Samples from these features suggested that the bulk of the charcoal had resulted from the burning of mature oak timbers. Finds were limited to several worked flints and a small amount of fired clay. Although such features are often seen as being the result of prehistoric activity it is likely that many were actually associated with marginal industrial activities, such as charcoal production, during later periods. This would appear to be the case here, with radiocarbon dating of a sample from one of the pits returning a Saxo-Norman date. A small number of much more recent features were also excavated including a ditch and a number of pits, all of which produced modern ceramic building material.
There is little that can be said about the many undated linear features, other than that the range of forms and alignments makes it highly likely that they were associated with more than one phase of activity. The bulk of the possible pits and post-holes identified during this work were also undated and for the most part fairly unremarkable. These features were present in many parts of the site with no particularly pronounced concentrations identified. The sterile nature of the material filling most of these features makes it unlikely that they were associated with domestic activity.
See report (S6) for further details.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2019.215).
P. Watkins (HES), 20 November 2016. Amended 24 June 2019.

December 2014. Excavation.
Excavation of drainage outfall corridor along western and southern margins of eastern field.
A number of additional features were exposed in this corridor, including two ditches, ten pits and six possible post-holes. The ditches were perpendicular, with one terminating at the point where it met the other – suggesting that they were probably broadly contemporary. Several sherds of Roman pottery were recovered from one of these ditches, providing further evidence that at least some of the features identified in this part of the site were associated with the Roman phase of activity. The majority of the discrete features were undatable, the one exception being a shallow sub-circular pit that produced a small amount of Roman pottery. Two of the other pits were possibly ‘fire pits’ of the kind identified across the site during the earlier trial trenching.
Several residual worked flints were the only other finds recovered.
See report (S6) for further details.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2019.215).
P. Watkins (HES), 20 November 2016. Amended 24 June 2019.

November 2014-August 2016. Excavation.
Details awaited.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2019.215).
P. Watkins (HES), 24 June 2019.