NHER 27233 (Monument record) - Possible site of Chapel of Our Lady, Witton

January 2005. Norfolk NMP.
Cropmarks of a rectangular building, possibly a medieval chapel, and an enclosure ditch are visible on aerial photographs (S1-2). These cropmarks are centred on TG 3381 3142 and were previously recorded as part of NHER 6978.

A rectangular positive cropmark is present and has previously been interpreted as a small building (S3). The cropmarks could either represent the foundation trenches of a timber building or the robber trenches along the walls of a stone building. The building is aligned on a roughly west to east axis and measures 9m by 4m. The building is placed centrally within a rectilinear ditched enclosure that measures 17m by 12m externally with a 1m wide ditch. The southern side of the enclosure is not completely visible as a cropmark due to masking by a change in the geology or soil type. No entrance is visible into the enclosure and it is likely that this is located on its southern side.

The field in which these cropmarks are located was called Chapel Close and it has been assumed that this is the location of a Chapel of Our Lady referred to in a will of 1524 (S3). However, it has also been suggested that the chapel mentioned in the will was actually located in the church (See E. Rose comments in NHER 6978). The small size and west to east alignment of the building cropmark mean that it could be the medieval chapel. This is not certain, and the exact date and function of the cropmarks is unknown. Although no building is marked at this location on the 1827 Witton enclosure map (S4) it is possible that it is of medieval to early post medieval date. Finds from this field are recorded in NHER 6978 and 40251.
(S1-4)
J. Albone (NMP), 27 January 2005