NHER 26406 (Monument record) - 12th century quay or building, Quayside

The Norfolk Heritage Explorer is a filtered version of the Norfolk HER intended for casual research. Please contact us to consult the full record.

Summary

During the medieval period Quayside was used by shell fishermen to unload their boats, and thick deposits of shells have been noted at nearby sites. Trial excavations on the south bank of the River Wensum at Quayside were undertaken in 1993, and a number of interesting archaoelogical features were noted. Of particular interest were a number of medieval waterlogged organic deposits, which included wood, structural timbers, leatherworking debris and wickerwork. The timbers were identified as structural components of the quayside or a collapsed building. Dendrochronological analysis dated their felling to the summer of AD 1146.

Protected Status/Designation

None recorded

Location

Map sheet	TG20NW
Civil Parish	NORWICH, NORWICH, NORFOLK

Map

Find a placename, postcode or grid reference

Map layers

Base layers

Info

Record list

Tools

Full Description

26 July to 6 August 1993. Trial Trenching.
Three trial pits excavated adjacent to south face of river wall.
Middle Saxon, Late Saxon, medieval and post-medieval pottery sherds and other finds. Wickerwork, timber and leather were preserved in 12th century layers.
Timbers from quayside or collapsed building.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2).
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2025.127).
Compiled by K. Forrest (NAU), 28 July 1993. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 25 March 2015 and 24 August 2025.

Dendro date for felling of timber, summer AD 1146.
E. Rose (NLA), 23 March 1995.

Associated Sources (6)

--- SNF8808 Fiche: Exists.
--- SNF10065 Photograph: GZZ, GZY.
--- SNF8804 Secondary File: Secondary File.
--- SNF8807 Slide: Various. Slide.
<S1> SNF68766 Unpublished Contractor Report: Ayers, B. and Leah, M. 1993. Trial Excavations at Quayside, Norwich. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 75.
<S2> SNF6263 Article in Serial: Gurney, D. (ed.). 1994. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 1993. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLII Pt I pp 115-123. p 120.

Site and Feature Types and Periods (6)

Object Types (12)

POT (Middle Saxon - 651 AD to 850 AD)
POT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
ANIMAL REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
MANUFACTURING DEBRIS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
MOLLUSCA REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
SHOE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
STRING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
BRICK (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
POT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
TILE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Related NHER Records (0)

Find out more...(3)

Record last edited

Aug 24 2025 12:17PM