NHER 65064 (Monument record) - Potentially prehistoric and undated features

March 2018. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of land to be affected by proposed improvements to A11/A47 Thickthorn Junction (Area 7).
A number of weak curvilinear trends were the only potentially archaeologically-significant responses detected. These anomalies were between 9m and 15m in diameter and potentially represented ring-ditches (although their forms were somewhat irregular).
Numerous parallel linear trends were of agricultural origin and scattered discrete patches of magnetic enhancement are thought to represent variations in the natural geology. A smaller number of discrete dipolar anomalies had probably been caused by ferrous material in the topsoil (most likely modern debris).
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 June 2021.

July-August 2020. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of land to be affected by proposed improvements to A11/A47 Thickthorn Junction (Trenches 60-76).
The seventeen trenches excavated at this location revealed a range of scattered linear and discrete features.
These produced a small assemblage of Mesolithic/Early Neolithic and Late Neolithic/Bronze Age work flints, as well as a number of Late Prehistoric pottery sherds. Although these finds clearly provides evidence for a least some early activity on the site, most were probably residual within later features. One potentially prehistoric feature was a fairly large sub-circular pit in the centre of the site that produced six sherds of Late Prehistoric pottery. Another prehistoric sherd was recovered from a pit at the eastern end of the site that had heat-scorched margins - indicating that it had either seen in situ burning or received a dump of hot material. A sample taken from its dark fill produced only charcoal.
The majority of the other pits excavated were shallow, undated features. The one exception was a substantial probable quarry pit at the eastern end of the site. This produced a range of finds including worked flints, small amounts of Late Prehistoric, Roman and medieval pottery and a fragment of metal working debris.
Although probable ditches were recorded in a number of the trenches these were mostly undated, with finds limited to a small number of worked flints and single sherds of Late Prehistoric and Roman pottery. The wide variety of alignments do though at least indicate that these features probably represented multiple phases of activity. Although several of ditches lay close to the curvilinear geophysical anomalies, it appears that none could be firmly associated with them. Several It is also clear that most had no associated sub-surface remains.
Unstratified finds were limited to a small number of prehistoric worked flints.
See report (S2) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2020.109).
P. Watkins (HES), 7 June 2021. Amended 27 July 2023.