NHER 3457 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Earthworks of an enclosure and ditches of possible medieval to post medieval date, possibly the site of a park lodge

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Summary

Earthworks of an enclosure and ditches of possible medieval to post medieval date. It is possible that they relate to a park lodge. Previous interpretation of the earthworks as a moat does not seem to be supported by the aerial photographic evidence. The site has since either been quarried away or buried by spoil heaps.

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Location

Map sheet TF61SE
Civil Parish WORMEGAY, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Map

Moated site, destroyed, according to [1], who claims to have found two 13th to 14th century sherds here (date?).

July 1975. Visit.
This is now a gravel pit and nothing at all remains.
E. Rose (NAU), 15 July 1975.

(S1) says that the Manor stood 'in the park north of the church'; here? Photocopy of part of old map shown by Mr Hines (S2?) marks this site as 'Woodhouse' and Park Farm as 'Park Farm and Manor House'. But Park Farm shown simply as such on (S3), with no Woodhouse (1797). Suggest Faden wrong in omitting Woodhouse (he omits other sizeable houses) and that Park Farm became the manor in about 1800 to 1820 when other building abandoned.
E. Rose (NAU).

Fenland code WGY 13.
Outline of moat marked on record map from overlay by R. J. Silvester (NAU), taken from Hunting Survey aerial photographs (details?); he suggests site may have been buried by spoil heaps, not destroyed.
E. Rose (NAU), 29 January 1987.

For full details of wares, flint types, etc. see Fenland Folders (S4).

October 2007. ALSF NHER Enhancement Sub-Unit D.
WGY 13.
At the eastern tip of the island, within the park, a moated site with associated but less intelligible earthworks, is visible on aerial photographs. This has since been destroyed by gravel extraction but a local fieldworker claimed to have found 13th and 14th century pottery there. That this small moat succeeded the castle as the manorial centre for Wormegay seems unlikely. Rather an interpretation as a park lodge seem more appropriate.
Information from (S5).
M. Dennis (NLA), 1 October 2007.

December 2007. Norfolk NMP
Earthworks of linear ditches and an enclosure are visible on aerial photographs (S6). Three sides of a rectangular ditch-defined enclosure are visible on aerial photographs taken in 1946 (S6). It is possible that it is an enclosure of medieval to post medieval date possibly assocaied with a park lodge. The enclosure has previously been interpreted as a moat. However, the narrowness of the ditches and its relationship to adjacent earthworks means that this does not appear to be the case. A more convincing, albeit ephemeral, moat earthwork is recorded at Park Farm (NHER 50754) and that is more likely to have been a manor site, if one existed in the eastern part of the parish.

As stated above, the earthworks recorded as part of this site have been destroyed or buried by gravel extraction activity (S7). Other earthworks within the former park are recorded to the south (NHER 20684).
J. Albone (NMP), 19 December 2007

  • --- Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Medieval. Wormegay.
  • --- Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
  • --- Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TF 61 SE 23.
  • <S1> Monograph: Bryant, T. H. 1904. Hundred of Clackclose. The Churches of Norfolk. Vol XIII. p 345.
  • <S2> Map: Bryant, A.. 1826. Bryant's Map of Norfolk.
  • <S3> Publication: Faden, W. and Barringer, J. C. 1989. Faden's Map of Norfolk in 1797.
  • <S4> Archive: Fenland Folders.
  • <S5> Monograph: Silvester, R. J. 1988. The Fenland Project Number 3: Marshland and Nar Valley, Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 45. p 148.
  • <S6> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1606 4319-20 27-JUN-1946 (NMR).
  • <S7> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1971. OS/71021 167-8 22-MAR-1971 (NMR).
  • POT (Medieval - 1200 AD to 1399 AD)

Record last edited

Oct 17 2025 6:30AM

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