NHER 27899 (Monument record) - Earthwork of medieval saltern

June 2003. Norfolk NMP.
The southern part of this site may cross over with the extent of the finds retrieval area NHER 16833. The feature is sub-rounded in plan (S1), with a maximum diameter of 77m. There is a sub-rounded pit visible cut into the north-western corner of the mound (S1) and a sub-oval structure or possible stack stand on the eastern side of the mound. This feature appears to be formed by a narrow horseshoe shaped bank, with a fragmentary narrow ditch on it’s outside. The feature has a length of 15.5m and a width of 9.5m, with its long axis aligned in an east to west direction. This feature may the traces of a building associated with the saltern, but is more likely to be stack base, dating from the Post-medieval period. There is a modern building located on the western side of the mound in 1945 (S2).
This is almost certainly a saltern mound, formed by the waste sand from which the salt has been extracted. The courses of former saltmarsh channels can be seen to the immediate north (S1), and there are many similar mounds in this area. It is likely to medieval in date. This mound or the workings within its vicinity may be the source of the finds from NHER 16833.
M. Brennand (NMP), 24 June 2003.

December 2014-January 2015. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of removal of concrete slabs and other structures associated with farm buildings that had been built on the site in the second half of the 20th century. Although there was no direct evidence for the mound it was noted that the main slabs occupied an area of comparatively elevated ground.
See NHER 62667 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 18 April 2018.

May-July 2015. Trial Trenching and Excavation.
A programme of archaeological mitigation work undertaken ahead of the redevelopment of this site confirmed that this was indeed a saltern mound, revealing a range of features associated with Late Saxon to medieval phases of salt making. As appears to have been typical for the industries of this date salt was being produced by boiling down a brine solution created by washing and filtering salt-impregnated silts and sands scraped up from the nearby marshes or foreshore. That activity had begun by the Late Saxon period was demonstrated both by the pottery recovered and the results of a limited programme of radiocarbon dating. The medieval pottery assemblage suggests that salt production had probably ceased at this site by the end of the 13th century and there was no evidence for subsequent activity on the site. The features associated with the initial, Late Saxon phases of salt production included filtration units (used to wash the silt deposit and collect the resultant brine), a clay-lined tank and a number of the hearths that would have been used to boil the brine. A later phase of medieval activity was associated with a number of more enclosed brine-boiling hearths.
See excavation report (S3) and NHER 62667 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 18 April 2018.