NHER 3421 (Find Spot record) - Handaxes and other Palaeolithic worked flints.

1890s. Stray Find.
During the 1890s a number of Palaeolithic worked flints were recovered in quarry pits near Blackborough End - a small village that lies in the southernmost part of Middleton parish. The majority of these items appear to have been recovered by C. B. Plowright. According to (S1) Plowright found half an implement in 1890, flakes in 1893 and another implement in 1894. A note on (S1) suggests that the flakes were examined by P. K. L. Schwabe, who identified them as "Clactonian"; suggesting they were relatively crude stone-struck pieces. As noted on both (S1) and (S2) this information is derived from W. G. Clarke's manuscript notes (S3). These discoveries are almost certainly the reason that Clarke listed Middleton (Blackborough End) in (S4) as one of the locations that had produced Palaeolithic implements prior to 1907.

The most likely provenance of these objects is a series of large pits to the south-east of Blackborough End which are marked on the 1st Edition O.S map. The mapped extent of this record indicates the position of the largest pit, although it should be noted that there were a number open in the area at this time, including a reasonably substantial pit on the opposite side of Mill Drove. Wymer (S5) also believed that these pits were the most likely source of these finds.

As first noted in (S4), the King's Lynn Museum holds at least a proportion of the Palaeolithic material that was recovered here during the late 19th century. These objects include a broken handaxe that is recorded as having been found by Plowright in 1890 (KILLM : 2001.515) and is presumably the discovery from that year noted by Clarke. There is also a second broken handaxe that had been found by a Mr Lawns at the same location in 1890 (KILLM : 2001.519). These are probably the two handaxes from Middleton listed by Roe (S6). Both were examined by Wymer and are described on (S2) and in (S5). Wymer notes that although these objects had suffered recent damage they did not appear to be more than slightly rolled.

Roe (S6) also lists an unretouched flake and a miscellaneous fragment from this site as being in the King's Lynn Museum. These are almost certainly two objects that are recorded as having been found in 1893 and 1894 (KILLM : 2001.485; KILLM : 2001.486). One is a primary flake that was identified by Wymer and described on (S2).

These finds are also noted in (S7) and (S8).

Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 29 November 2013.