NHER 65030 (Monument record) - Early Saxon building, undated, potentially prehistoric ditches and post-medieval structures

August 2015. Excavation.
Excavation of site of new outdoor swimming pool and associated pool building.
The small area excavated revealed a number of features, the most notable of which was a Saxon sunken-featured building (grubenhaus).
Two ditches and a single small pit associated with an earlier phase of activity were revealed following the removal of two layers beneath the subsoil that were regarded as being colluvial in origin. These features were potentially prehistoric, although finds were limited to a single worked flint and a small amount of animal bone. Whilst there was evidence for prehistoric activity on the site, this consists largely of finds that were either unstratified or residual within later contexts. These objects included a small assemblage of worked flints associated with a Mesolithic/Early Neolithic blade-based industry (including snapped blades of possible Mesolithic date) and single sherds of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Beaker and ?Bronze Age pottery.
The sunken-featured building was aligned approximately east-to-west and was fully exposed within the excavated area. It contained three post-holes, two on its main axis (suggesting it conformed to a two-post configuration) and a third in its north-east quadrant. The primary fill of the structure appeared to have accumulated around the in situ posts, with the limited number of finds recovered from this deposit and the absence of evidence for trampling suggesting that the building had probably had a suspended timber floor. Although a proportion of the small pottery assemblage recovered from the upper fill can only be broadly attributed to the Early to Middle Saxon period, the presence of decorated sherds and fabrics with organic inclusions indicates a date between the late 5th and 7th centuries AD. Other finds recovered from this deposit include a bone comb fragment, animal bones, a small quantity of slag, and fragments of Roman brick and tile. The Roman building material includes bessalis bricks and combed box flue tiles, suggesting it was derived from a large farmhouse or villa associated with a hypocaust or bath house. The source of this material is though uncertain as it had probably been deliberately brought to this site for reuse during the Early Saxon period.
All three of the samples taken from the fills of the sunken-featured building produced assemblages of carbonised plant macrofossils. These were dominated by cereal grains (with both hulled, six-row barley and free-threshing type wheat identified), with these and other the other material present indicative of waste from domestic-scale crop processing and food preparation.
Later remains were limited to several post-medieval structures and a large modern pit. The former included a brick-built chimney and two adjacent, parallel, chalk block walls. Bricks from the chimney are of probable late 17th to early 18th-century date, which is consistent with the fact that no structures are shown at this location on any of the available 19th- or 20th-century maps. Probably unrelated to these remains was a separate structure interpreted as a modern agricultural trough. This had a concrete base and walls constructed from building rubble and occasional whole bricks of probable 18th- to early 19th-century date. Its fills contained small quantities of modern brick and glass.
A small number of medieval and later finds were also recovered from the uppermost of the two colluvial layers, including medieval pottery sherds and post-medieval pantile fragments.
Information from assessment report (S1). Final report awaited.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2016.268).
P. Watkins (HES), 24 May 2021.