NHER 7950 (Monument record) - Post-medieval brickworks, Mission Road

Old kiln. 'Part of brickworks complex' on (S1). (on old series 6").
E. Rose (NAU)

This was one of two brickworks opened in the mid 19th century by Mr Betts, proprieter of the Scole railway, to stimulate trade.
See NHER 13579.
E. Rose (NLA) 15 September 1997.

Kiln is represented by a mound, grassed over, very low and spread.
It is on the north (top) edge of a scarp that must demarcate the south edge of the brickyard, and south of which the tramway ran.
Lying on surface are fragments of handmade and moulded white bricks with red inclusions (probably products) and red engineering bricks, probably the structure of the kiln itself.
E. Rose (NLA), 15 April 2002.

February 2005. Excavation. Contexts 11-37.
Excavation of low mount at TM 1284 7953 prior to development of land.
The initial trench excavated across this mount revealed no trace of the kiln thought to be present at this location (see above), with only a pit exposed (which contained brick rubble and fragments of an early to mid-19th-century leather shoe). A subsequently excavated northern extension to this trench did though uncover a substantial flat brick platform thought to represent the base of a chimney kiln. No trace of a superstructure survived, although a fragment of brickwork recovered from a surrounding deposit was likely to represent part of a kiln. These three refractory bricks are mortared together and formed part of a curve or arch.
See report (S2) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S3).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2018.218).
J. Allen (NLA), 25 August 2005. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 April 2019.

November-December 2015. Excavation.
Excavation of site of new care home.
This phase of work saw the excavation of three areas, the first of which (Area A) targeted a group of three kilns shown on the Ordnance Survey First Edition 25-inch map (S4) at TM 1283 7961. A second area of similar size excavated immediately to the east (Area B) coincided with a large water-filled pit and a rectangular drying shed or similar building shown on the same map. A third, smaller area (Area C) was opened at the southern edge of the site (TM 1284 7958) to allow further investigation of the brick structure exposed in 2005.
The work at Area A revealed the surviving elements of three Suffolk-type kilns. Each had a floor formed of a latticework of brick, which allowed heat to rise from the fire tunnels beneath the kilns. These fire tunnels had pointed arches and underlying ash tunnels and extended beyond the main bodies of the kilns, into a shared subterranean working area with a paved floor. The cartographic evidence suggests that the main part of this working area probably lay within a roofed structure of some kind. The entrances to the fire tunnels were sealed by Iron doors. The kilns had been constructed from unfrogged red bricks, although later phases of building and repair utilised frogged red brick stamped 'BETTS DISS' (which presumably represented products of the kilns themselves). It appears that the two kilns flanking the north side of the working area were built first, with a third, much larger kiln subsequently constructed at its eastern end.
Elements of the site's 19th-century drainage system were also exposed, including a brick-built sump and associated brick-lined drain. Traces of a former railway line were also noted. This siding is shown by (S4) to have terminated adjacent to the kilns and connected to the main railway line approximately 30m to the south.
The area opened to the east of the kilns (Area B) revealed only a large probable clay extraction pit, which was investigated via a machine-excavated slot. The possible traces of a north-to-south aligned former railway line were also noted during the initial stripping of this area. This does not correspond with anything shown on the various Ordnance Survey maps so potentially represents a siding that had already been removed by the late 19th century. There were no surviving traces of the rectangular building shown on (S4).
The additional area opened at the southern edge of the site successfully located the structure that had been recorded in 2005. This substantial rectangular brick plinth survived to a height of six courses but there was no evidence to support the initial suggestion that it was some form of kiln. A reconsideration of the cartographic evidence also casts doubt on this interpretation, as although this potentially corresponds with a small ?circular structure shown on the early Ordnance Survey maps, none mark this as a kiln. Its positions suggests it was probably more likely to have been built as a platform to support a crane or some other piece of equipment associated with the adjacent railway line.
It appears no finds were retained from this phase of work.
Information from draft assessment and archive reports. Final versions awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 15 February 2024.