NHER 17217 (Monument record) - Mesolithic flintworking site, Roman and Late Saxon buildings, and multi-period finds

19 July 1977. NAU air photography.
Cropmarks of one ring ditch and an adjacent rectangular feature were observed in aerial photos. The rectangular feature may represent a building.
The cropmarks of the ring ditch, later identified as a Roman structure, are now recorded under NHER 50678. The Saxon buildingis recorded under NHER 50679.
D. Edwards (NAU), 22 December 1980. Amended H. Hamilton (HES), 30 September 2025.

1981. Metal-detecting.
2 medieval coins and 1 copper alloy seal.
The seal has a hunting cry SOHOV and ROBEN C (?) and a hare blowing horn astride quadruped. It has been dated to the 14th century and can be compared to an example from Bradwell (NHER 17264). Also compare with (S1).
The coins have been identified as an Edward I penny and a Henry VI calais mint penny.
S. Margeson (NCM), 30 November 1981.

Winter 1989. Excavation by NAU.
A Roman circular building and three Late Saxon rectangular buildings were excavated by NAU. The principle feature associated with the Roman building was a ring ditch with two phases of construction. This was dated to the 1st-2nd centuries AD and had served as a foundation trench for a sequence of timber structures.
Three Late Saxon post-hole buildings were located to the south of the ring ditch, and one of these was cut by a Late Saxon post-in-trench building. These structures appear to have been built to a planned layout, and have been interpreted as part of a rural, domestic settlement.
The excavations also investigated a series of linear cropmarks in the north end of the field, which were identified as medieval boundary ditches with a fenced enclosure. (S2) notes that aerial photographs indicate the presence of similar field systems on the opposite side of the river.
Finds from the site included a "background scatter of struck flint", ranging in date from the Mesolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The flints were recovered from all excavation trenches and were primarily retrieved from later contexts. However, a collection of micro-blades, flakes, spalls and several possible blades recorded at an interface between subsoil and hillwash in Trench C have been interpreted as likely in situ working debris from the Mesolithic period.
See final publication (S2) for full details. This work was also reported in (S3). See also press cutting (S4) in file (which interprets the Saxon buildings as barns). See (S5) for parallels of the Roman structure at Beddingham and Watergate, Sussex.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2022.163).
E. Rose (NLA), 9 January 1990. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 14 May 2014 and 5 December 2022.

15 October 1993. NLA air photography.
The field containing the features identified in 1977 is visible, however the cropmarks not clear.
H. Clare (NLA), 16 February 2001.

1995. Stray Find.
Found by [1] when digging for electricity cable (at depth of 12in [30cm]):
1 Mesolithic flint axe. See drawing (S6).
Identified by P. Robins (NCM), see description in file.
W. Milligan (NCM), 28 February 1995.

Grid reference corrected from original ([2]).
M. Horlock (NLA), 24 March 2003.