NHER 61884 (Monument record) - Medieval and post-medieval features

May 2013-May 2014. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with construction of a new dwelling, close to the former site of Melton Hall (NHER 9277). The excavations monitored were extensive and included the footing trenches for the new building itself, various associated services and a large area of ground source heat trenching in the land to the south of the Melton Hall ruins.
This work identified a range of archaeologically significant features of probable medieval to post-medieval date. Medieval features were present in several locations, with a notable concentration of small probable extraction pits and other remains identified in the area of the new house itself. Other remains noted close to the main concentration of features included several ditches that may have formed a small enclosure and possibly a trackway. The presence of medieval surfaces and possible hearth waste suggests that this location was potentially close to an area of occupation. Medieval features identified elsewhere on the site included a series of roughly parallel, fairly substantial ditches what were exposed in trenches dug to the south of the Melton Hall ruins. Potentially medieval ditches were also identified in several other locations. Several deep extraction pits were also identified in an area of natural clay to the south of the hall. Medieval finds recovered included pottery sherds, a schist hone and a horse harness bell pendant. The majority of the medieval features were of probable 11th- to 13th-century date, with the absence of late medieval material suggesting that activity had significantly declined by the 14th century.
Post-medieval features identified included a series of extensive clay extractions pits present to the south of Great Melton Hall. It is unclear whether these were associated with the initial construction of the hall or the later, 18th- to 19th-century works. They clearly predated the formal gardens that can be seen on later 19th-century maps.
Various brick footings were encountered on the former site of Melton Hall itself. These included the cellar and walls of an 18th- to 19th-century building that can be seen on mid 19th-century maps of the site. These remains were truncated by the substantial footings of a late 19th-century east-to-west aligned service range, coal cellar and possible boiler room. It was noted that each brick was stamped ‘EHEL’- presumed to be for Edward Henry Evans-Lobe. It is known that bricks with these initials were produced at a local brickworks off Pockthorpe Road (NHER 9279). Other features associated with this 19th-century phase of activity included finely-built brick drainage culverts, a large ornamental brick pond, a well, a sunken pathway and tree planting pits. Several cobbled former yard surfaces were also identified. Several waste pits of late post-medieval to modern date were also present in the area of the new house.
Other finds of note recovered during this work included a number of residual prehistoric worked flints and Late Saxon pottery sherds.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 26 October 2016.