NHER 12723 (Monument record) - Medieval to post medieval settlement and enclosures

1977.
Two or three toft sites seen on ground by B. Cushion (NLA).

7 December 1978. Visit.
These toft sites are embanked earthworks at south end of field by present house. Bank runs north parallel to road - old course of road? or drainage? Owner at Station Farm believed this was the site of Kimberley Hall. Perhaps, according to informant, because of a mistake in (S1) locating Falstoff's Wood on west side of park. But only site of medieval tofts.
E. Rose (NAU), 7 December 1978.

NAU air photograph shows further earthworks behind bank at back of field. So the square at the south end is one toft, that at the rear the second, and behind this the possible third, though this is very large for a toft and may be a field boundary.

1 October 1989. Fieldwalking and metal detecting finds. Southwest of St Peter's Church.
?Bronze foot or arm of Early Saxon brooch.
Pottery - includes early medieval rims, lots of green glazed Grimston, stoneware (Raeren and possible Langerwehe) and late medieval/transitional Mayen lava fragments.
15th century late medieval rumbler bell made of sheet bronze in two hemispheres joined at centre, loop for suspension squashed.
Iron pellet in situ.
Medieval bronze decorated key with lozenge-shaped bow, hollow skin and elaborate wards, worn incised line decoration on stem. See (S2).
Medieval ?fragments of iron barrel padlock.
Post medieval bent lead token incised X on one face ?deliberately bent as ritual object?
White metal-coated bell, with 'lathe' marks inside - clapper missing.
Bronze cast rumbler bell.
Bronze sheet vessel rim with rivet holes.
Identified by S. Margeson (NCM), 21 February 1990.
W. Milligan (NCM), 3 October 1989.

Whole site under arable, with faint undulations noted in flattened cereal crop.
H. Paterson (A&E), 14 November 1997.

October 2011. Norfolk NMP.
The earthworks of toft and croft boundaries, described above, are visible on aerial photographs (S3)-(S9), centred at TG 0700 0404. Together with the medieval to post medieval finds from the area, they provide clear evidence that this part of Kimberley village was formerly occupied by properties (the smaller, embanked enclosures adjacent to the road), with at least one longer field visible behind them. Sunken areas (mapped as Extent of Area) at TG 0691 0401 and TG 0690 0398 may relate to structural remains, the former perhaps marking the site of a well. The unevenness of the ground adjacent to the road also suggests the former presence of buildings. Overall, the site forms part of more widespread evidence of Kimberley’s shifting pattern of settlement and enclosure in the medieval to post medieval period (NHER 54660). The finds and the form of the earthworks here, as well as their location close to the church, seem to indicate that they are of relatively early date, with those further to the south (NHER 8893) representing later expansion of enclosure and perhaps settlement. It is notable that the earthworks here, at their northern end, seem to form part of the same system or pattern of enclosure and settlement as those on the other side of Norwich Road (NHER 14401). The relationship of both these sites with the former line of the road (NHER 54661) is unclear but clearly of interest.
At least six small enclosures or tofts, measuring 36m-50m long and 27m-40m wide, can be identified, although the various subdivisions evident mean that what constituted a single property is unclear. The longer field or croft measures at least 173m long and 37m wide.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 11 October 2011.