NHER 5587 (Monument record) - Roman settlement and temple

Roman settlement divided in two by the Fossditch (NHER 1089).

1931. Casual find.
Roman sherds.

1947. Stray Find.
Found at [3] (Context 7):
Antler haft for iron knife with inscription in Ogham characters. ?Pictish import 5th-6th century. See drawing (S1).
This object is described and figured in (S7). It was subsequently suggested in (S8) that the name reads GEDEVI and indicates Irish influence. The discovery was first reported in (S9) and is also noted in (S10) and (S11). The object itself was donated to the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1950.24).
Information from file notes. See also related correspondence (S12).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 4 November 2015.

Also prehistoric material and inhumation.

1948.
Finds of Roman sherds, coins, quern.

1949.
Excavation on NHER 1089 produced also Roman sherds from this site. Pottery elsewhere on site.

1949 to 1953.
Finds of Roman coins and sherds.

1950.
Finds of Neolithic flint and stone tools.

1953.
Roman sherds, coins and quern found. Excavation of Roman building.

1954.
Casual find of Roman sherds.

1956 to 1957.
Roman priests' crowns or diadems ploughed up.

1957. Excavation of crowns/diadems site.
Revealed Roman floor, many brooches and ritual pit; interpreted as stall for selling brooches.

1957.
Hut site discovered with Roman sherds.

1959.
Roman coins, sherds, copper alloy vessel found.

1960.
Find of Roman copper alloy vessel.

1961.
Roman coins, brooches and querns found.

1966.
Excavation of Roman building; inhumation underneath it.

1966.
Roman pewter hoard, uterine sound, lead disc and metalwork

1967.
Excavation of Roman timber-lined well.
Roman coins, pewter hoard and medieval green glazed ware.

1970 to 80. Found with metal detecting.
Roman lead purse and coin hoard found.

1974. Found with metal detecting.
Roman furniture fitting and brooches, Early Saxon brooch.

1975. Found with metal detecting.
Roman metalwork.

1976.
Casual find of Roman brooch and surgical implement.
See (S1) for further details.
S. Howard (NLA), 10 September 2010.

1977. Found with metal detecting.
Roman coin and pewter plate.

1978.
Evidence of Roman building noted. Pottery, tiles and quern.

1979.
Iron Age and Late Saxon sherds found.

1980.
Cropmark of small rectangles seen.

1980.
Field survey/surface collection by T. Gregory (NAU).
See (S2) in file.
The finds recovered during this work have been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1995.59).

1981.
Finds of Roman coins and lead weight and pottery. See rubbings of coins (S13)-(S16).

1982. Found with metal-detecting.
Roman cauldron.

1983. Found with metal-detecting.
Roman lamp and figure of otter.

1983.
Observation of trenching revealed Roman pits and ditches.

1984.
Excavations in advance of ditch cleaning revealed Roman pottery.

1984. Metal-detecting finds.
Roman, Bronze Age metalwork.

1985. Found with metal-detecting.
Roman bracelet, bowl and sherds.

1985 or before. Metal-detecting.
Found by [1] at [2]:
1 Roman nail cleaner.
Acquired by Moyse's Hall Museum (1985-35B).
Information from museum records (see copy of record card in file).
P. Watkins (HES), 30 August 2016.

1987. Found with metal-detecting.
Iron Age coin.

1990. Fieldwork revealed patch of tesserae.

1996. Metal-detecting finds.
Iron Age, Roman coins. Roman, Early Saxon, Middle Saxon, medieval and post-medieval metalwork.

1997. Metal-detecting finds.
Neolithic flints, Iron Age brooch, Roman coins, sherd and brooch. Undated gold fragment.

See details in file.
Site plans and photographs, correspondence, press cuttings in file.
For full details see (S3).
A. Rogerson (NLA), 31 January 1998.

February 1999. Metal-detecting. For NGR see Notes.
811 Roman 4th century (mostly irregular) coins.
Found fused together 50m north of plantation and 40m west of Fossditch.

October 1999.
5 more coins within 2 metres of above, in top 5 cm of soil.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 8 November 2000.

October 2000. Metal-detecting.
2 Roman coins, Roman sherds and brooch.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 30 November 2000.

See list by T. Gregory (NAU) in file of sherds found by [1] in October 1953 (NCM 7. 954).
Includes Middle Saxon and post medieval sherds, Roman fine tile, undated (non Roman?) spindle whorl or bead.
A. Rogerson (NLA) 24 January 2001.

January to March 1999. Metal-detecting.
Further Roman finds.
See lists in file.
Bronze Age chisel.
Iron Age sherd.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 27 April 2001.

January to February 2001. Gridded metal-detecting and fieldwalking of area of site to west of Fosse Ditch.
75 Roman coins.
Roman, Early Saxon and undated metal objects.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 26 February 2001.

Before 16 February 2001. Field walking.
Iron Age sherd.
139 Roman sherds.
Roman glass, bricks, etc.
Unusual medieval barrel padlock case.
See list in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 29 September 2001.

February to April 2001. Metal-detecting.
Find recorded on the PAS database [6]:
Roman silver finger ring.
Information from PAS import.
Other finds identified by NLA:
Further Roman coins, metalwork, etc.
Late Bronze Age spearhead.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 8 May 2001. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 2 May 2020.

May-June 2001. Metal-detecting.
Further finds.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 4 June 2001.

June 2001. Metal-detecting.
Further Roman coins and sherd.
Undatable metal objects.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 22 June 2001.

1 coin found 16 May 2001 in square B10 centre S edge is Iceni (not Roman).
See list in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 4 September 2001.

2001 to 2002.
Further gridded field survey.
Finds recorded on PAS database [7]:
Roman silver bracelet and joining fragments of silver votive leaf plaque.
See file for details of finds identified by NLA but not recorded on the PAS database.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 2 May 2020.

September 2001. Aerial Photograph Interpretation.
1 July 1996. NLA air photography.
Cropmarks within a geologically complex area.
To the north is a right angled arrangment of double ditch that may represent the site of a building, although it could be relatively modern. To the south are a series of linear features, one of which may have formed part of an enclosure.
Additionally there are a dense series of criss-crossed anomalies, probably caused by agricultural or drainage practices.
These cropmarks were previously recorded under NHER 36368 (now revoked). They were incorporated into this record following air photo analysis in 2018 (see below).
M. Brennand (NLA), 14 September 2001. Amended H. Hamilton (HES), 16 June 2020.

14 and 15 November 2001. Metal-detecting and Excavation.
Discovery during metal-detecting, followed by rapid excavation of a pewter and glass hoard.
See preliminary list of contexts in file.
See illustrations of flagons (S39), (S40), (S46), (S47), vessels (S36), (S37), spoon (S41), bottle (S43), small footed dish or cup (S44), unidentified object or gaming piece (S42), and buckle (S45).
Also notes and photographs (added 2007)
A. Rogerson (NLA), 24 April 2002. Amended by E. McDonald (HES), 19 October 2020, A. Beckham (HES), 16 November 2022.

May 2002. Metal-detecting.
Further finds including part of Roman pewter dish.
See file sheet 56 which also lists finds made 13 June 2001 and omitted from earlier lists.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 15 June 2002.

See file for definitive list/catalogue of 1999 4th century coin hoard by I. Leins of British Museum, see (S4).
A. Rogerson (NLA), 7 June 2002.

Before 15 November 2002. Surface finds.
Roman sherds, tile fragments, daub, etc. collected from two areas.
See list and copy of map in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 23 December 2002.

May 2003. Metal-detecting.
Roman linch pin.
See description in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 12 September 2003.

November 2003. Metal-detecting.
Silver coins and silver ingot disclaimed as treasure.
See note in file.
E. Darch (NLA), 12 May 2004.

May to December 2003 and December 2003 to March 2004. Continuation of gridded survey.
One Iron Age and 522 Roman coins.
Prehistoric and Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age worked flints.
Iron Age and Roman sherds.
Iron Age, Roman, Early Saxon, medieval, post-medieval and undatable metal objects.
Roman glass and bone gouge.
See finds sheets 59 to 84 and 125 coin sheets in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 20 December 2004.

30 January 2005 to 21 January 2006. Further gridded metal-detecting.
133 Roman coins and metalwork.
See coin lists, and sheets 85 to 89 in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 25 February 2006.

January to May 2006. Gridded fieldwalking.
Early Neolithic flints.
Many Roman coins.
Iron Age, Roman (S48) and Early Saxon metal objects.
Undatable stone polisher.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 7 July 2006.

See for detailed description of finger ring with glass intaglio found in K6 northwest corner on 11 November 2003.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 3 July 2006.

August 2006.
Scheduled monument consent granted for a metal-detecting survey to be carried out.
See (S5)
H. White (NLA), 2 April 2009.

November 2006.
Oculist's stamp found by [1] in soil surrounding pewter and glass hoard excavated in November 2001.
See description and scanned image in file (S38).
A. Rogerson (NLA), 18 November 2006.

See letter and note by [2] for future publication in Britannia on lead curse tablet (grid H9 2001) in file. (S6).
A. Rogerson (NLA), 30 May 2008.

31 August 2011.
Roman coin and knee brooch.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (HES), 19 September 2012.

January 2018. 'Brecks from Above' and Breckland National Mapping Programme.
The remains of the Roman settlement at Hockwold are visible on aerial photographs and lidar data (S17-S35) as cropmarks and earthworks, both surviving and levelled earthworks. The central core of the site, where a series of roads, enclosures and buildings are clearly apparent, some of which have been excavated, is recorded from cropmarks (S19, S22-26, S33). The western part of the site (previously recorded under 36368), survived as earthworks into at least the 1940s, but would now appear to be largely plough levelled (S17, S19 S21-22, S27-28).The earthworks visible at the site in the 1940 and 1950s (S17-S20) eastern part of the site would appear to be still surviving to some extent as low earthworks the 2m resolution Environment Agency lidar (S34) and recent aerial photographs (S29-S32). The extent of the site was originally defined in 1930 by ‘surface indications’ and finds locations (S3, S10). It is not clear whether any of the earthworks recorded from the aerial photographs have been previously identified on the ground. None of the existing HER, NMR or published material explicitly states so. The site has been extended considerably from the aerial photographic evidence. See also NHER 62016 for potentially related features to the east – and to a lesser extent NHER 62018 to the northwest. Similar low earthworks and vegetation marks have been recorded to the south in Suffolk (eg. BRD 257 & BRD 260), some of which are also associated with Roman finds and building material. Significant amounts of further work and investigation on the ground is required at this site to ascertain the significance, condition and plan of these earthworks. As outlined below, there were many issues relating to earthworks and/or vegetation marks having a different appearance on the historic and modern aerial photographs and lidar data, making it hard to decipher definite nature and form of earthworks. Also heathland management activities within the eastern part of the site may have affected the site and consequently non-archaeological features to be included within the mapping in error.

The central field of the settlement exhibits the more regular plan and exceptional cropmarks in the 1980s (S23-S27). The most productive cropmarks were produced in 1949 (S23-S26), but it must be noted that the cropmarks appeared to be reversed within large parts of the field. This is assumed to be caused by the fact the site has underlying areas and ridges of sandy material against pockets of peat. The reversal affect could also relate to the fact that the ditches may be filled with sandy material, which does not hold water well.

The most notable feature of these cropmarks is the presence of numerous post-built structures and/or fence-lines. The size of the timber structures appear to range in size from 6m by 3.5m, to 22.5m by 6m. The largest of these timber buildings is aligned east-west and has a rounded apsidal eastern end. Whilst this building may represent a large agricultural barn, given the alignment and apsidal eastern end could feasibly indicate an early church or chapel site. A number of small sub-circular anomalies were identified, which appear to represent a compacted or stone-built central feature, surrounded by a ditch. Although the reversal of the cropmarks in 1989 makes interpretation of some of the features uncertain – see above. It may be that these are actually small stone built structures around a central sunken area. It is possible that these might relate to corn drying ovens, kilns or a similar structures. These were suggested by stunted and/or darker areas of crop, seemingly surrounded by ditch or gully. It is interesting to note that many of these features appear to be located alongside the roads. Another site in the Breckland region, for example the excavations in advance of dualling and improvements of the A11 at Elveden (SHER ELV059 /S36) revealed evidence for a late Roman centralisation of agricultural activity, in particular in relation to the drying and storing of grain. It is possible that the numerous barn-like post-built structures and possible ovens could feasibly also suggest this for the Hockwold site.

There is clear evidence for more than one phase to the settlement within the cropmark area. More curvilinear enclosures appear to be overlain by and/or overlie more rectilinear boundaries. Several of the numerous post built structures at the site appear to have been built over earlier boundaries or conversely pre-date them. The earthworks and vegetation marks to the east of the site also clearly indicate several phases of boundaries, tracks and enclosures. As discussed below it is not clear how much of this is medieval to post medieval in date. It could be postulated that if ploughed – like the central section – that these areas of platforms and boundaries might reveal a similarly dense area of post-built structures and settlement remains.

Outside of this central area – where the evidence is predominantly derived from cropmarks – there were issues with earthworks and/or vegetation marks having a different appearance on differing sources, although an attempt was made to incorporate the varying plots. There were several areas where the historic and modern aerial photographs and lidar data showed features differently making it hard to decipher nature and form of earthworks. At TL 7566 8710 for example the historic aerial photographs appear to suggest a more rectilinear arrangement of enclosures and banks in this area and the later aerial photographs indicate a more parallel linear arrangement, suggesting some potential changes at the site or that some features were only showing under particular conditions. It must also be noted that on some of the Google Earth images, in particular in 2003 (S31), that some of the features that look like they are sunken, are shown to be raised on the Environment Agency 2m resolution lidar (S34). This suggests that the appearance of some areas of surface vegetation may be giving a false impression of the state of the earthworks. Further investigation of the eastern part of the site on the ground is essential.

There are also some discrepancies between how things appear on the modern sources. A linear boundary and/or track appears to cut across the eastern part of the site. On the 1940s aerial photographs (S17-S19) this would appear to be a relatively late feature compared to the other earthworks. However it does appear to continue on from a road/track that seemingly relates to parts of the Roman town. It must be noted that the excavations in 1957 (S3) within the western part of the site uncovered the remains of trackway made of rammed chalk and gravel, with wheel ruts worn into the surface that was of relatively recent date, thought to be associated with movement of gravel along the Fossditch and to barges on the river to the south in the late nineteenth century. Further work would be needed to ascertain how this excavated trackway and the road clearly visible as cropmarks relate to each other. It is possible that this apparently late linear feature to the east of the Fossditch also relate to this activity. This linear hasn’t been included on the main NMP mapping (but is recorded on a notes layer), other than parts where it possibly incorporates other earthworks potentially of an earlier date. Further investigation on the ground would be required to ascertain whether this linear does relate to the road recorded to the west on the cropmarks.

There is also a suggestion that some of the earthworks and building platforms may be post-Roman in date, feasibly relating to medieval to post medieval use of the same area. There are also possible traces of the remains of bank-like boundaries visible on the lidar (S34) over the eastern edge of the central arable field, which do not correspond with the ditches visible as cropmarks in (S23-26). It is possible this relates to remnants of post-Roman boundaries – and it must be noted that the boundary shares alignment with another bank visible on the lidar to the west – that have been reduced by ploughing. However it is also possible that it relates to recent agricultural activity in the field.

Some possible additional ditches are visible on Google Earth 2003 within the south eastern part of the site (S31) but these were not included in the mapping as many of them has the appearance of linear disturbances in the vegetation caused by access. It is also hard to be certain about some of the possible features mapped to the south of the central site on (S33) due to recent activity. It seems likely that more archaeological features could be added to the western area from (S33), however without a site visit to establish. It must also be noted that a road and/or bank seems to run alongside the Fossditch (NHER 1089), which would suggest that it is a later part of the site, unless the southern route of this Saxon boundary was following the line of an existing road or bank. It is possible that some of the site relates to Saxon activity at the site, also suggested by Saxon finds.

In the western area of site in July 1981 (S22) exhibits numerous features that look like pits, but only those substantial and clear examples were included in mapping. Many of them form dense linear spreads and it was assumed that they related to either agriculture or geology. A road or trackway to the northwest of the main area of the site has been included in the site (S22). The alignment of the route is reflected by some of the boundaries and enclosures to the south, although it may well be of a different date. It could feasibly relate to agricultural activity or access, rather than a archaeological feature. Seen NHER 62018 for discussion of other possible cropmarks in this area.

To the north of the previously recorded area some of evidence of the settlement continuing was identified, particularly to the northeast on (S17, S20). To the north of the main cropmark area, the evidence was less clear and very little was included in the mapping. The main features worth noting are visible on the Google Earth 1999 layer (S35), where there is a series of wide and blurred soilmarks – recorded by ‘extent of area’. A series of sub circular features, potentially frost mounds or similar periglacial features, are visible, although they do broadly correspond with find locations and may require further assessment. A broad boundary or hollow and some other rectilinear elements are visible, some of which may relate to the Roman settlement, although a later date and/or agricultural origin seems most likely.
S. Horlock (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 5 January 2018.