NHER 51299 (Monument record) - Wall footings of possible medieval date, Hospital Meadow, River Wensum Flood Defense Scheme Zone 3b

March to June 2007. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with River Wensum Flood Defence Scheme (Zone 3b). Contexts 35-70.
Construction of a new flood wall revealed evidence that structures were previously present in this area. No soil layers could be firmly dated to the medieval period, but wall footings encountered at the western end of the trench may be of medieval date. The majority of the material encountered consists of post medieval make-up layers, some deposits including oyster and mussel shells, brick and tile fragments, and chalk and mortar flecks. One sherd of medieval pottery and three sherds of post medieval pottery were recovered from an undated layer along with a small quantity of animal bone. A large, undated pit was encountered to the east of the wall footing at the western end of the trench. This pit contained a dump of flint rubble, likely from demolition of the upper portion of the wall, and a layer of iron smithing slag.
See report (S1) for further details.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.420).
H. Hamilton (NLA), 4 March 2008. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 20 July 2019.