NHER 49074 (Monument record) - Area of cultivation associated with Greyfriars' Precinct

November 2006. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site. Contexts 1-98.
A small number of features, comprising post holes, pits and a single ditch were identified.
The low-lying nature of the site appears to have made it unattractive for occupation before the medieval period, with only a few pre-medieval finds recovered during the evaluation, suggesting that it remained marginal to known areas of activity before this time. The site was enclosed within the Greyfriars precinct, probably in the 13th century, when the site appears to have been used as a garden or area of agricultural cultivation linked to the Friary. The lack of evidence associated with the destruction of the Friary during the Dissolution suggests that it was somewhat remote and separate from the friary. There was no evidence for any demolition debris, indicating that no substantial buildings stood in the vicinity. The only exception to this was in the north-western part of the site where flints bonded with a pale mortar found in a single pit in Trench 3. This demolition debris is thought to be remains of the precinct wall rather than those of a building.
The site appears to have retained its horticultural function beyond the Dissolution, and was mapped as an area of orchards by Hochstetter in 1789. By the time of the first edition Ordnance Survey map in 1885, the majority of the site was open ground, with a row of buildings identified as a school along the north-eastern boundary.
See reports (S1) and (S2) for further details. The results of this work are summarised in (S3).
See also engineers report (S4).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.114).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 26 November 2007.

October 2007. Borehole Survey.
Window sampling survey undertaken in order to locate the course of the Dallingfleet stream.
The deposits encountered correlate with the friable soils located during the previous evaluation (see above), but no riverine deposits were encountered. This means that no remains of the Dallingfleet Stream could be found at this location.
Finds recovered from the samples included 4 sherds of post medieval pottery, 10 pieces of post medieval ceramic building material, a fragment of bone, fragments of clay tobacco pipe, a piece of smithing slag and one piece of burnt flint.
See report (S5) for further details.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2016.135).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 16 September 2008. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 April 2019.

February 2008. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of excavation of foundations for new residential flats.
Late- medieval and post- medieval pottery and animal bone was recovered from the spoil of the south- western foundations
In the central- northern area of excavation quantities of human bone were recovered from the spoil heap and digger bucket at a depth of 2-2.5m. It was impossible to clarify if the bone came from in situ burials as the lowest context was submerged. Due to the depth of the trench, only the blrgest pieces of bone coule be spotted and recovered. The remains derive from a minimum of three adults. The site seems to great a distance to have been associated with the friary cemetary, but it is possible that these remains belonged to the churchyard of St Mary in the March before the area was incorporated into the friary precinct in the 14th century.
At the eastern section of the excavtion, two walls were located at right angles to one another. Both were flint and motar walls, oe aligned east-west and the other north- south. Other features, such as possible flint- cobbled floors were discovered, but were impossible to distinguish due to the nature of machining.
See report (S6) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S7).
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2025.155).
H White (NLA) 11 November 2008. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 24 August 2025.