NHER 40819 (Monument record) - Medieval burials and quarry pit at Crown House, Croxton Road

September-October 2004. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site. Contexts 1-173.
Excavations revealed that this area had been used as a quarry, probably during the medieval period. In the southern part of the site a chalk lined pit and a human skeleton were excavated, both of which were medieval in date. One possible prehistoric feature and evidence of post medieval and modern activity were also recorded.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 16 December 2004.

January-February 2005. Excavation.
Two areas targeted for further excavations (Areas 1 and 2). Contexts 200-436.
The earliest evidence recovered during the excavation was a single shallow oval pit cut into the natural sand.
Most of the finds and features recorded during the excavation dated from the medieval period, when activity on this site appears to have been quite intense. Most of the medieval features could not be more precisely dated.
Two ditches appear to function as a property boundary in the angle of Norwich Road and Croxton Road. No dating evidence was found in either of these features, but they appear to be early as medieval features appear to respect them.
Two possible ovens were excavated, and although no finds were recovered from within their fills, they are thought to date from the earliest phase of medieval activity on this site. The more complete of the two appears initially to have been constructed as a drying oven, but it appears to have been altered at a later date and used to mix clay and chalk to form daub.
A single pit can be assigned an early medieval date. This was located between the two ovens and may have been used for the extraction of sand. Pottery recovered from its fill suggest an 11th to 13th century date. A group of six other pits was located close to the western edge of Area A and appear to have been dug for the extraction of chalk and possibly flint. Three chalk-lined pits were also recorded.
Seven west-east aligned graves were excavated, all of which had been truncated. These contained eight articulated skeletons, three of which were found within a single grave. These burials can be tentatively dated to the 14th century as one of them was found to contain a 14th century locking buckle. The uniform layout of the burials and the fact that the skeletal remains represent a 'normal' cross-section of the medieval population, support the suggestion that these inhumations may be part of a consecrated graveyard. The nearest known church is that of St Andrew, a short distance to the south, and it is possible that this church may have had part of its graveyard in this location. The excavator postulates that the need to expand the graveyard into this area may have been caused by a high death rate at the time of the plague, a suggestion which may be further supported by the 14th century date assigned to the single datable artefact recovered from the graves.
A row of five square post-holes indicates the position of a post medieval fence line.
See report prepared for publication (S3) and assessment report (S4) for further details. The results of this work are summarised in (S5). See also newspaper article (S6).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 6 August 2008. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 13 July 2015.

Human skeletal remains were found in the southern part of this area when a sewer trench was dug in 1970.
See NHER 5922 for further details.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 7 August 2008.

A combined archive comprising material from both phases of archaeological work at this site has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2010.281).
P. Watkins (HES), 11 May 2019.