NHER 63577 (Monument record) - Prehistoric, ?Roman and post-medieval features

2004-2005. Desk-based Assessment.
Archaeological assessment of western route options for Norwich Northern Distributor Road.
See reports (S1) and (S2) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 4 July 2019.

March-June 2009. Geophysical Survey
Magnetometer survey on proposed line of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road (Site H7). One of three adjacent areas surveyed in order to achieve a representative sample of the overall route.
An area of dipolar magnetic disturbance detected towards the western edge of the field appears to correspond with the site of two farm buildings that were present at this location during the latter half of the 20th century. These building lay at the southern end of a track extending southwards from Dog Lane (only a much shorter stub of which now survives) and appear to have been demolished at the end of the 20th century.
A south-west to north-east aligned positive linear anomalies may indicate the presence of a soil-filled ditch.
Weaker predominantly east-to-west aligned linear anomalies identified elsewhere in the field were regarded as most the result of modern cultivation practices, although it is possible that at least one was associated with a former field boundary visible on 19th- and 20th-century maps.
Various discrete dipolar anomalies were probably caused by ferrous debris in the topsoil.
It was noted that the presence of deep cultivation ridges in the field at the time of the survey will have had a negative impact on the detection of archaeologically significant features.
See report (S3) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 3 August 2015.

February 2010. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site on proposed line of Norwich Northern Distributor Road (Site H7). Two of the four trenches excavated in this field revealed archaeologically significant remains. These features included three pits and two ditches, none of which produced any dating evidence. The ditches were aligned roughly east-to-west and at least one appears to have corresponded with a similarly-aligned linear anomaly detected by the geophysical survey.
A trench excavated across the stronger north-east to south-west aligned linear anomaly revealed no evidence of an associated sub-surface feature.
See report (S4) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S5).
P. Watkins (HES), 30 July 2015.

April-August 2015. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site on proposed line of Norwich Northern Distributor Road (Field H7).
The twenty trenches excavated in this field revealed a range of probable ditches and a small number of discrete features. Although there was some evidence for prehistoric and Roman activity it appears that the majority of the ditches at least were probably associated with a much more recent phase of activity.
A small assemblage of worked flints was recovered, although these were mostly residual within later features. This material appears to represent limited activity during multiple periods, with pieces of Mesolithic/Early Neolithic, Neolithic/Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age or later date identified. Other prehistoric finds included two sherds of Iron Age pottery.
Although Roman pottery was recovered from a number of features the quantities present were generally small. The largest assemblage (35 sherds, all from a single jar) came from an east-to-west aligned ditch that had first been identified during the previous trial trenching and appeared to extend across most, if not all, of the site. It is suggested that this feature and a number of other ditches represented elements of a Roman field system, although it should be noted that the cartographic evidence indicates several of the ditches exposed were associated with field boundaries and other features present in the 19th century. A pair of similarly-aligned, parallel ditches to the south of the potentially Roman ditch appear to correspond with a trackway marked on the Horsford tithe map of 1841 (S6). A perpendicular, north-to-south aligned ditch to the south also appears to coincide with a field boundary marked on this map. This feature produced a medieval pottery sherd and post-medieval roof tile fragments, which would appear to confirm a post-Roman date. Two similarly-aligned ditches to the west may have been at least broadly contemporary with the feature, although no corresponding boundaries are depicted on the tithe map. One did however produce a post-medieval brick fragment. Also of probable post-medieval date are a number of north-north-east to south-south-west aligned ditches exposed at the western edge of the site that appear to correspond with another trackway depicted on the tithe map (and which was a functioning route way until the end of the 20th century). One of these ditches produced several finds of 18th- to 19th-century date.
An undated feature of particular interest was a probable unurned cremation exposed in the north-west corner of the site. Burnt bone was visible on the surface of this small pit, which was not excavated at this stage.
Other features included several undated post-holes and a small pit that produced a single sherd of Roman pottery. A large pond-like hollow exposed at the eastern edge of the site which found to contain reasonably large amounts of burnt flint. Other finds recovered included a small number of worked flints, scraps of lava quern and a small number of Roman pottery sherds. Environmental samples taken from the fills of this feature were found to contain significant quantities of charcoal but little else in the way of plant macrofossils or other debris. The burnt flint was seen as evidence this feature had been a focus for some form of prehistoric activity
See report (S6) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 5 July 2019.

January-September 2016. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation of site on route of Norwich Northern Distributor Road (Area 4).
This phase of work also revealed further limited evidence for prehistoric and Roman activity and more fully exposed elements of the potentially post-medieval field system revealed by the preceding trial trenching.
It is again notable that none of these ditches were identified by the 2009 geophysical survey.
Prehistoric finds recovered included worked flints likely to represent activity during the Mesolithic/Early Neolithic, Neolithic/Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age/Iron Age periods and a small assemblage of Early Iron Age and Iron Age pottery.
Features of probable prehistoric date included two clusters of post-holes. The first was an irregular group of 26 postholes of varying size and shape, one of which produced a coherent assemblage of Middle Bronze Age/Iron Age worked flints, along with a single sherd of Early Iron Age pottery and a reasonably large amount of burnt flint. Several other features in this group also contained burnt flints and one produced another sherd of Early Iron Age pottery. The second group of potentially prehistoric post-holes comprised six features, four of which potentially represented some form of four-post structure. Finds from this ground included a single sherd of Iron Age pottery, burnt flints and a small amount of fired clay.
The various ditches exposed were mostly features that had been identified during the preceding trial trenching. The arrangement of these features suggests that many were probably broadly contemporary elements of the same field system. The more prominent elements included a pair of interrupted or fragmentary parallel east-to-west aligned ditches that had probably flanked some form of trackway. Finds were recovered from both: the northern ditch produced the largest assemblage of Iron Age pottery recovered during the excavation (17 sherds of probable later Iron Age date), whilst the bulk of the Roman pottery found come from the southern ditch (11 sherds). Features that were probably associated with this trackway included two perpendicular field boundaries that extended southwards from the southern ditch. An extensive east-to-west aligned ditch that had previously produced fragments of a Roman pottery jar was also potentially contemporary with the trackway, particularly as a perpendicular ditch was identified that only appeared to be present within the gap between this feature and the northern trackway ditch. However, although the various ditches at this site are regarded as potentially elements of a Roman field system it must again be emphasised that the date suggested by some of the artefactual material appears to be at odds with the available cartographic evidence. The main ditches clearly coincide with a trackway marked on the Horsford tithe map of 1841 (S6) and at least one of the perpendicular features to the south also appears to correspond with one of the field boundaries marked on this map (and produced post-Roman finds during the preceding trial trenching). North-north-east to south-south-west aligned ditches at the western edge of the site also appear to relate to another trackway depicted on the tithe map. A post-medieval date for at least the majority of this group of features seems less contentious given that none produced notable quantities of Roman material and one also produced late post-medieval material during the evaluation. The number of ditches present, along with variations in their alignments does though suggest that the trackway was realigned on at least one occasion. Associated features included two perpendicular west-north-west to east-south-east aligned field boundaries that extended from the westernmost trackway ditches. This particular section of trackway also survived as a route way until the late 20th century, when (as noted above) it was shortened following the demolition of the farm buildings that previously stood at its southern end.
Although many of the excavated features clearly correspond with boundaries and other features that were extant during the 19th century the exact date of the field system exposed remains uncertain. The fact that a number of its boundaries do not appear on the tithe map suggests that it was already of some age when this map was drawn, as does the evidence for the reworking of the north-north-east to south-south-west aligned trackway. The possibility also remains that the post-medieval field system incorporated surviving elements of a much earlier system of land division. It is potentially notable that the orientation of the east-to-west aligned trackway is somewhat at odds with the surrounding field boundaries and it is therefore entirely possible this and similarly aligned field boundaries to both the west and the east of this site represent the fossilised traces of considerably older landscape features. This cartographic evidence, coupled with the distribution of the artefactual material suggests that we might be looking at a Roman route way that survived as a landscape feature long after any associated field system had fallen out of use. In this model the parallel east-to-west aligned ditch potentially represents a feature associated with the original Roman track, whilst most of the perpendicular boundaries relate to the post-Roman field system. It should also be noted in the context of this discussion that work in the field immediately to the east (NHER 51048) revealed another east-to-west ditch containing Roman pottery, running to the south of the features at this site.
It appears that the cremation burial identified during the preceding evaluation was also located and excavated during this phase of work, although it is unclear at present exactly what it contained.
The large probable pond at the eastern edge of the site was also subject to further investigation, although a small assemblage of burnt flints were the only additional finds recovered.
Information from draft assessment report. Final version awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 July 2019.