NHER 64892 (Monument record) - ?Roman, medieval to post-medieval and undated remains

November 2015. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
The ten trenches excavated revealed a relatively sparse scatter of ditches and possible pits, with the more significant features laying at the northern and southern ends of the site. It is noted that area largely devoid of remains in between coincided with an area of more clayey natural deposits. Dating evidence was fairly limited, with the majority of features producing no finds. There was though evidence for at least limited activity during multiple periods.
Several features of possible prehistoric and Roman date were identified, all of which lay at the southern end of the site. A pit that produced a sherd of possible Neolithic pottery was however the only feature that could be tentatively identified as prehistoric. Single sherds of what is probable Bronze Age or Early Iron Age pottery were also recovered from two other pits (one very large) but these both also produced sherds of Roman pottery.
The features that could be confidently identified as post-Roman all lay in the northernmost part of the site. These included two pits that produced medieval pottery, the first of which was a shallow feature with a charcoal-rich fill. A sample taken from this deposit was the most production of all of those processed, being found to contain charred wheat and barley grains, along with a possible legume and the seeds of two wetland plants. The second pit was much deeper and interpreted as a possible quarry pit. Medieval pottery and a fragment fired clay was also recovered from a short possible linear feature in the same trench as these pits. The fired clay object was possibly part of an Early Saxon loomweight.
Features of probable later date included a large pit or hollow that contained a number of post-medieval roof tiles.
A post-medieval iron horseshoe was also found in an east-to-west aligned ditch at the northern end of the site. This was the only find recovered from any of the excavated ditch. The various undated ditches did though display a variety of alignments, suggesting they were probably represented multiple phases of activity.
One east-to-west aligned ditch was possibly associated with one of several cropmarks recorded to the east of this site (NHER 51950).
Undated discrete features included a number of possible pits, most of which lay at the southern end of the site. The majority of the other discrete features investigated were though found to be of probable natural origin.
Unstratified finds were limited to two sherds of post-medieval pottery and a post-medieval clay tobacco pipe fragment – all of which were recovered during the excavation of one of the southernmost trenches.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.327).
P. Watkins (HES), 3 May 2021.