NHER 68330 (Monument record) - Roman, medieval to post-medieval and undated remains

November 2022-April 2023. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with installation of new water main (Area 5). This section of the pipeline was subject to archaeological monitoring as it passed close to Dilham church (NHER 8210).
The initial stripping of topsoil from this section of the working easement revealed no archaeological remains but the subsequent excavation of a narrower trench through the remaining overburden exposed a dense cluster of pits at the western end of the site and a number of scattered ditches to the east.
There was some limited evidence for prehistoric activity, with worked flints recovered from a number of the pits. A single Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age pottery was also recovered from an otherwise undated pit, although, like the flints, this was most likely residual. This group of features also produced evidence for Roman activity, with a small assemblage of Roman pottery recovered, along with several fragments of potentially Roman ceramic building material. At least one pit was of probable Roman date - being found to contain 26 Roman pottery sherds, along with a piece of potentially Roman tile and a flat piece of Purbeck marble with tooling marks on one face (possibly flooring or wall veneer).
A group of pits to either side of a north-to-south aligned ditch were though clearly associated with much more recent phases of activity, as while these contained some Roman pottery the majority also produced finds of medieval to post-medieval date. These later finds included small amounts of medieval, medieval/post-medieval and post-medieval pottery, a medieval floor tile, medieval/post-medieval brick and tile fragments, pieces of clay tobacco pipe and fragments of post-medieval bottle and possible vessel glass. The features of definite post-medieval date included two adjacent pits that both contained animal burials. The ditch contained fragments of medieval/post-medieval ceramic building material and was not truncated by any of the pits – suggesting these features were at least broadly contemporary.
The scattered ditches recorded to the east of this main concentration of remains were all aligned either north-to-south or north-north-west to south-south-east. None produced any dating evidence.
Unstratified finds recovered at this location include prehistoric flint side-and-end scrapers, Roman pottery sherds and a Roman coin.
See report (S1) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2023.4). This archive does not include the finds, which have been retained by the landowner.
P. Watkins (HES), 20 May 2024. Amended 7 January 2025 and 5 March 2025.