NHER 16680 (Monument record) - 19th-century industrial site

19th-century industrial site comprising a small brickworks, limekiln and saw pit. The well-preserved remains of the limekiln are now recorded separately as NHER 63726.

Lime kiln and two brick kilns, early to mid 19th century.
Only the stoke hole survives of the brick kiln.
However, the lime kiln bell is infilled but the tunnel remains as "the largest and finest in Norfolk".
Of brick, pointed roof with tuilieres in apex.
Some flint in construction.
See NIAS records (S1).
Compiled by E. Rose (NAU), 30 October 1980.
Information from (S2).
P. Watkins (HES), 2 October 2019.

The site is noted in several directories:
- Kelly's 1853 (S3)
- White's 1854/64 (S4)
- Harrod's 1868
- Kelly's 1875
6ins O.S. map 1880-4 marks it as being a similar size and shape to what it is presently, indicating that not much lime was extracted here after then.
Information from NIAS records (S1)
W. Arnold (HES) 13 December 2010.

August 1991.
Limekiln listed Grade II.
See NHER 63726 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 2 October 2019.

March 2018. Desk-based Assessment.
Production of Heritage Statement discussing potential impact on limekiln of proposed redevelopment of land behind 8A Station Road. This history of the site is also discussed in some detail.
It is clear from cartographic sources that industrial activity at this location began at some point during the later 19th century, the works being depicted on the Ordnance Survey First Edition 25-inch Ordnance Survey map (S5) but not the Coltishall Tithe map of 1841 (S6). Trade directories document the arrival of brick and lime production industries in the parish during the 1850s and 1860s but it is argued that activity at this particular site may not have begun in earnest until the railway to the north opened in the 1870s. The 1883 edition of White's Directory describes a "...large lime works…opened recently near the railway station, from which lime of a very superior quality is obtained". It is suggested that this refers to the site in question, although it should be noted that it could easily describe a lime works to the north-west where four kilns are known to have been in operation between 1879 and 1906 (NHER 16678).
The Ordnance Survey First Edition 25-inch map shows the limekiln as a circular structure built into the southern edge of a large quarry (labelled as a 'Marl Pit' but presumably also the source of the chalk) that by this time occupied much of the field to the north. The brickworks is labelled 'Brick Field' and a single kiln, several clay pits and what were possible long drying sheds/racks are also marked. The presence of a saw pit at the northern edge of the site is also noted.
As at other lime production sites in the parish it appears that activity had ceased prior to or during the early 1900s, with no related structures shown on any subsequent Ordnance Survey maps.
See report (S7) and NHER 63726 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 3 October 2019.

September 2019. Field Observation.
Brief examination of limekiln during site visit.
See NHER 63726 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 2 October 2019.

September-October 2019. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site within garden of former Railway Tavern.
Half of the single trench excavated was occupied by a large probable extraction pit. This feature may well have been dug in order to extract clay suitable for brickmaking and was largely filled with redeposited sand. The only other feature of note was a brick-lined well or soakaway of probable 19th- or early 20th-century date. Several modern post-holes were probably associated with one of the structures shown at this location on 20th-century maps.
Finds recovered included a prehistoric flint flake, fragments of several late post-medieval bricks (probably made at the site), post-medieval and modern coins, an iron nail and a lump of iron smelling slag.
See report (S8) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2019.310).
P. Watkins (HES), 19 December 2022.