NHER 5304 (Find Spot record) - Unprovenanced Palaeolithic handaxes, Hockwold/Hockwold Fen (Hockwold cum Wilton, poorly located)

At least two museums hold Palaeolithic handaxes that are recorded as having been recovered in or around Hockwold cum Wilton, but with little or no additional information regarding their provenance. It is possible that at least some of these implements were recovered at a site in the Wilton area, which is known to have produced a number of Palaeolithic object (NHER 5303).

British Museum:
The British Museum holds 3 handaxes that are recorded simply as being from Hockwold. These are amongst a collection of 5 handaxes in the Sturge Collection (2011,8109.736)- the other 3 are marked "Wilton" and recorded under NHER 5303. These objects are noted in (S1) and are the 3 unprovenanced handaxes from Hockwold listed by Roe (S2). They are recorded by (S3) as being from "Hockwold Fen", which is presumably the reason why they were listed as such by Wymer (S5). Wymer suggests that these handaxes may well have come from the quarry pits at Shrub Hill (Feltwell; NHER 5292). It is clear from Wymer's record cards (S4) that these 3 handaxes were erroneous also including in totals that he gave in (S5) for material from the site at Wilton. At least two were found during the 1880s.

Nottingham University:
Roe (S2) also lists another unprovenanced handaxe from Hockwold that is held by the Nottingham University. This object is described in Wymer's records as sharp and broken, but was not included in (S5).

These finds are also listed in (S6) and (S7), although no additional information is given.

Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 17 November 2013 and 21 November 2014.