NHER 38228 (Monument record) - Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age pits and other, Early Iron Age, Roman and undated remains

December 2002. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of eleven geotechnical trial pits in proposed mineral extraction area.
No archaeological features were encountered and no finds recovered.
See report (S1) in file.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2016.147).
J. Allen (NLA), 24 April 2003. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 2 June 2015 and 27 April 2019.

September-October 2006. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of topsoil stripping ahead of mineral extraction (Phase 1 Area 1 and Subsoil Bund 2).
An elongated sub oval pit was encountered close to the southern limits of the site. The fill produced 24 sherds of Beaker pottery and 47 pieces of worked flint. A second pit was located in the northern section of the site and was sub- rectangular in plan. Its fill produced 14 sherds of Beaker pottery, ten examples of worked flint and burnt flint. Interestingly, one of the pottery sherds appears to be a fragment of a small spoon-like implement. The pits appear to have been rapidly backfilled soon after they were dug and it is probable that the pits were dug specifically for the disposal of material. A thin linear feature aligned east-west was located to the eastern edge of the area surveyed. The feature remains undated, and was truncated by a pit. The fill of the pit contained dense quantities of charcoal and 90 large fragments of burnt flint. This evidence of burning may indicate that the pit contained the remains of a hearth. A pit to the west of this also appeared to have burnt material within it. Two shallow elongated pits were located adjacent to the southern boundary of the area. They shared similar profiles and fills and may be contemporary. Their fills were devoid of finds. Two post holes were discovered in the south of the site and a further post-hole in the north-west corner. None exhibited evidence for the presence of post- pipes but all had charcoal-rich fills, possibly indicating that the posts were burnt in situ.

Subsoil Bund 2 (south-east corner of the site):
A pit was located in the northern part of the site and was re-cut by another pit. It was filed with a charcoal- rich deposit and was probably used twice, perhaps forming the focus of ritual activity. 5 elongated pits were excavated across the area, and shared similar profiles and fills, although varied in length. No dating evidence was produced.
The archaeological remains indicate that the hilltop was a focus for ritual activity, continuing down the northern slope. No evidence of long-term settlement was identified, but post holes suggest some form of timber structure was present. The post holes, however, are spaced far apart and do not appear to form a coherent plan for a building.

See report (S2) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S3).
H. White (NLA), 4 December 2008.

September 2007. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of topsoil stripping ahead of mineral extraction (Phase 1 Area 2).
No report available.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 2 June 2015.

June 2008. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of topsoil stripping ahead of mineral extraction (Phase 2).
Three pits were identified to the south end of the site. The fill of one pit contained burnt flint, the fill of the other two pits produced no finds. A possible hearth was identified to the east of the pits and produced burnt flint. A tree hollow was also identified and its fill contained burnt flint.
See report (S4) for further details.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2016.274).
H. White (NLA), 16 January 2009. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 April 2019.

August 2009. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of topsoil stripping ahead of mineral extraction (Phase 3).
During monitoring a number of pits were revealed with some containing Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery. It is possible that these pits were in clusters and most also contained burnt flint and struck flint flakes, two scrapers and four blades all likely to date to the Neolithic period.
A Roman ditch containing 3rd to 4th century AD pottery was also recorded.
See report (S5) for further details.
S. Howard (HES), 5 July 2011.

August 2011. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of topsoil stripping ahead of mineral extraction (Phase 4 Area 1).
Two Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age pits were revealed in the south-eastern area of the site and are likely to be related to pits recorded in the surrounding area in 2009. The larger circular pit in the east measuring 2.9m in diameter and 0.76m deep with steep sides and an uneven base. The pit fills comprised two episodes of deposition and three of silting. Beaker pottery dating to the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age was recovered mainly from the edges of the pit fill. To the west a sub-rectangular pit measuring 0.9m long and 0.49m wide had gently sloping sides and a concave base. A small amount of pottery recovered from this pit was of the same date as that recovered from the larger pit.
Seven tree throws were also observed during the excavation.
Four pieces of struck flint were recovered from the topsoil and comprised flakes that can be broadly dated from the Neolithic to Bronze Age.
See report (S6)-(S8) for further details.
S. Howard (HES), 21 November 2011.

November 2011. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of topsoil stripping ahead of mineral extraction (Phase 4 Area 2).
Three undated but potentially prehistoric pits were recorded, along with a single ditch. The latter was aligned north-east to south-west and was also undated, the only find being a flint fabricator of probable Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date. Although it appeared to continue to the south it had not been identified during the stripping of the adjacent area in 2006.
See reports (S7) and (S8) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 11 December 2025.

May-June 2012. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of topsoil stripping ahead of mineral extraction (Phase 4 Area 3).
This phase of work uncovered a number of pits containing Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Beaker pottery, with several of these features also producing what were likely to be contemporary worked flints. The flint assemblage consists primarily of small, hard-hammer struck flakes, with tools limited to a composite side/end scraper, a discoidal scraper and a possible unfinished plano-convex knife – all of which is consistent with a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date.
A relatively isolated pit in the south-east corner of the area investigated produced the largest individual groups of both pottery and flint, with the remaining Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age material all coming from two features within a nearby cluster of nine small pits or post-holes. Another feature in this group produced a single sherd of pottery in a different fabric that could only be broadly dated as Bronze Age to Iron Age. It is though likely that all of these pits or post-holes were of the same date, including the six that produced no finds.
Two isolated, shallow features to the north were both poorly defined and potentially natural in origin. A pottery sherd of possible Early Iron Age date was found on the surface close to one of these features.
See report (S8) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 11 December 2025.