NHER 6859 (Find Spot record) - Unprovenanced ?Palaeolithic flint handaxe and other potentially Palaeolithic worked flints, Mundesley foreshore (Mundesley, poorly located)

September 1916. Stray Find.
Potentially Palaeolithic worked flint found on the shore by J. Reid Moir during visit to Mundesley. This "…very finely made and large flint flake of human manufacture..." was found "…in close proximity to an exposure of clay…referable to the Cromer Forest Bed series". Information from (S1).

It is possible that this find is the "chipped flint" from Mundesley that is held by the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 1963.21). This object was originally donated to the Ipswich Museum by Reid Moir and is recorded as having been found "on beach near an exposure of the Cromer Forest Bed". Information from (S2).

1919. Stray Find.
Nearly three weeks spent by J. Reid Moir and others examining the cliffs and shore between Trimingham, to the north-west of Mundesley, and Bacton, to the south-east.

The finds from near Mundesley described and figured in (S1) include an unabrabed flint "scraper" (Fig 52 D) found near the brick-field close to the Clarence Hotel. This was recovered from a large mass of Chalky Loam that lay amongst the talus at the base of the cliff.

Further finds were recovered further up the coast, towards Trimingham. These included:
1 flake found on the shore beneath an exposure of "Boulder Gravel (Fig 54A).
1 flake found near to the first (Fig 52E).
1 small "Chellian implement (Fig 54B) found "…about three-quarters of a mile north-west of the spot where the last two flakes…were found...lying upon the shore immediately opposite to an exposure of Boulder Gravel"
1 "disc-like implement". Picked up "…a short distance from the spot where the last described implement was found" (Fig 54C).

Several other potentially worked flints were recovered in situ in the gravel. These included:
1 scraper found "in situ in Boulder Gravel exposed in the cliff about half a mile to the north of the Clarence Hotel" (Fig 54D).
1 side scraper in situ within the Boulder Gravel, in close proxity to the first scraper (Fig 55A).
1 scraper found in situ in the Boulder Gravel, close to where the side scraper was found (Fig 55B).

Many of the objects published by Reid Moir are now regarded as dubious artefacts and it is unlikely that many of those described above are actually genuine Palaeolithic worked flints. These discoveries are noted on (S3) and discussed by Wymer in (S4). Wymer notes that he doubts the 'scraper' from the 'Boulder Gravel' is a genuine artefact. He does however note in (S4) that the 'Chellian implement' may be a small, rolled handaxe (figure reference incorrectly given as 'E').
No other sources make reference to these objects.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 25 June 2014.