NHER 9083 (Monument record) - Roman building(s), possible villa site

April 1954. [1].
183m (200 yards) west-north-west of Cherry Tree Farm. Revealed by ploughing.
Roman pottery and building materials, tiles and tesserae, including Samian.
See (S1).
NCM card.
Reported in (S5).
Visited by R. R. Clarke (NCM), 28 October 1954.

1979.
On ploughed surface.
Tegulae fragments, slag, greyware sherd.
A. J. Lawson (NAU), 1979.

March to April 1983. Found in fieldwalking.
Grey, Samian and colour coated ware. Mortaria fragments, tiles etc.
See list in file.
W. F. Milligan (NCM), 10 January 1984.
Identified by A. K. Gregory (NAU), 22 December 1983.

September 1986. Found in fieldwalking with metal detector.
Context 2; 'south part of site'; seven coins, 4th century (list in file), two bronze knobs for furniture?; bronze? Decorated bracelet; pottery including 2nd or 3rd century greyware bowl, 3rd to 4th century colour coated ware, Samian F33 South Gaul.

September 1986.
As Context 2 above; Context 3, 'west part of site'.
Six coins, 1st to 4th century, list in file.
Pottery 2nd to 3rd century greyware, shell gritted ware jar 4th century. 3rd century white mortarium, 1st century jar, 2nd century Samian F18 and 33. Millstone grit millstone, coarse red brick tesserae, flue tile fragments. Bronze lock pin or decorative stud.
Bronze scrap, lead sheet, bronze ingot fragment - these undated.
Identified by A. Gregory (NAU).
W F. Milligan (NCM), 1 October 1986.

March 2003. Metal detecting.
Roman coin found in area of context 2.
See list in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 10 April 2003.

Before 3 February 2012. Metal-detecting. [1].
56 Roman coins, Roman greyware and Samian pottery sherds and a fragment of ceramic tile (S4).
Please note: all other finds from this site, including some Roman finds, are recorded under NHER 56901.
See lists in file.
Information on coins from PAS import.
A. Rogerson (HES), 10 September 2012. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 22 March 2024.

January 2013. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks and soilmarks relating to Roman buildings and ditched enclosures are visible on aerial photographs at this site (S2-S3). It is suggested that given the density of finds and the cropmark evidence that this site could represent a villa site, although it may represent a Roman building of lesser status, defined within a rectangular enclosure. The main concentration of cropmarks is located to either side of former field boundary and this is broadly consistent with the location of the Roman finds and building material previously recorded.

The vast majority of the evidence for the site is visible in 1970 (S2), where cropmark reversal appears to taken place and the subsurface ditches are visible as lighter linear features, as would normally be expected with the remains of walls. Conversely an area of darker cropmarks is interpreted as representing possible subsurface stone remains. The location of these darker features is also consistent with an area of lighter ground surface clearly visible within the agricultural tramlines (shown on mapping as an extent of area). Also in this area in 2006 (S3) a broad light coloured soilmark is visible running alongside the line of the former field boundary and broadening out to coincide with the area of cropmarks visible on (S2). It is hard to interpret the actual plan of the building and/or buildings from the aerial photograph evidence, although it is clear that substantial masonry/sub-surface remains may be present at the site. The fragmentary ditches recorded to the south and west of this building/s would indicate that a large ditched enclosure, up to 117m across, was associated with the site and may have enclosed all the structures. See NHER 58555 to the east for possible other buildings, although it must be noted that these cropmarks may relate to agricultural activities.
Fragments of undated ditches, potentially of a different date were visible (S2), and have been included within this site, although their archaeological origin is somewhat uncertain. Numerous other linear cropmarks visible at these aerial photographs were dismissed as relating to drainage and/or agriculture.
S. Horlock (NMP), 24 January 2013.