NHER 24980 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Medieval tofts and fishponds at Hall Farm

5 January 1979. CUCAP aerial photography.
Rectangular enclosures under snow - shrunken village?
Possibly includes the 'fishponds' noted by Ordnance Survey as at site NHER 4935.
E. Rose (NAU) and D. Edwards (NAU), 14 December 1988.

Field south of farm drive under good pasture, grazed by horses.
Undulations visible. To north field unmanaged, rough grass.
No earthworks definable.
H. Paterson (NLA), 12 March 1996.

April 1996. Earthwork Survey.
Survey at 1:1000 of southern part of earthworks.
Surveyed area comprises a series of ditched subrectangular enclosures extending eastwards to a sinuous probably former watercourse, with an incomplete banked enclosure and truncated boundary features on the higher ground to the west, indicating a likely series of medieval tofts (houses and garden).
See report (S1) further details and copy of plan (S2). This survey is also noted in (S5).
B. Cushion (NLA), April 1996.

25 July 1996. NLA air photography.
Earthworks visible, in particular to the southern edge of the site.
S. Massey (NLA), 22 November 2001.

October 2002.
Drainage trench dug across the earthworks and some features infilled along the east edge.
See (S3) in file.
Works by Norfolk County Council Planning and Transportation.
D. Gurney (NLA), 1 November 2002.

November 2002. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of remedial works.
See report (S4) for further details.
D. Gurney (NLA), 20 December 2002.

February 2016. Earthwork Survey.
Analytical earthwork survey of proposed development site adjacent to Crown Street, the westernmost part of which coincides with this site.
The only notable earthwork recorded was a north-north-east to south-south-west aligned low bank running between approximately TL 7300 9481 and TL 7299 9476. The orientation of this feature suggests that it may well relate to the previously mapped medieval remains.
See NHER 70246 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 14 September 2026.

January 2019. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site adjacent to Crown Street, the westernmost part of which coincides with this site.
This work revealed various ditches and discrete features, most, if not all, of which appear to have been associated with Middle Saxon to Saxo-Norman phases of activity.
There was no evidence for surviving sub-surface remains associated with the low bank identified during the preceding earthwork survey, although its position and orientation suggest it was potentially related to two adjacent north-north-east to south-south-west aligned ditches recorded in a trench a little way to the north. One of these ditches was of likely 11th-century date, being found to contain a mix of Late Saxon and early medieval pottery, while the other produced only Late Saxon sherds.
See NHER 70246 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 14 September 2026.