NHER 51412 (Monument record) - Roman features and post medieval field systems

2004-2005. Desk-based Assessment.
Initial assessment of proposed development site.
See report (S1) for further details.

2007-2008. Desk-based Assessment.
An assessment of the potential for buried archaeological remains in this field was carried out. Potential for encountering Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic as well as the Anglo-Saxon, medieval and post medieval remains was characterised as low. There is moderate potential for encountering Bronze Age remains, moderate to high potential for Iron Age remains, and high potential for encountering Roman remains.
See report (S2) for further details.
H. Hamilton (NLA), 03 April 2008.

April 2008. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometry survey of proposed development area.
Several former field boundaries and an infilled pond were detected, which correspond to Ordnance Survey maps up to 1957. A probable roadside ditch was detected near the western boundary of the survey area, and other occasional weak anomalies could possibly reflect remains of other ditch and pit features. Two herring-bone arrangements of land drains were detected in the eastern half of the survey area.
See report (S3) for further details.
H. White (NLA), 12 November 2008.

September-October 2010. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of strip along eastern edge of site (Field 16b).
This survey identified three parallel north-east to south-west aligned linear anomalies, all of which were also detected by the 2008 survey. Two correspond with boundaries depicted on the Wymondham tithe map of 1839 (S4) and the third had been previously shown by the preceding survey to represent a land drain.
See report (S5) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S6).
P. Watkins (HES), 11 February 2021.

March 2011. Systematic Fieldwalking and Metal-detecting Survey.
Survey of proposed development area. Finds recovered included a prehistoric worked flint and objects of post-medieval, modern or uncertain date.
This survey was hampered by over-weathered topsoil and a covering of stubble.
See report (S7) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 August 2015.

April 2011. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development area.
Fifty-eight trenches were excavated, of which ten contained archaeologically significant features. These remains included three pits and a ditch or elongated pit containing Roman pottery dating to the 1st and 2nd century AD with one sherd imported from Gaul. The pits are likely to be refuse pits for domestic waste, as indicated by the presence of burnt animal bone, which would have been located at the edge of settlement. The lack of Roman tile from fieldwalking and trial trench evaluation could suggest that buildings were located some distance from this site or that buildings were constructed from timber and thatched.
Two struck flint implements suggest late prehistoric activity within the vicinity.
See report (S7) for further details.
S. Howard (HES), 27 February 2012.

November 2012. Excavation.
Excavation in the extreme northeast of the site investigated the area of Roman activity identified in 2011. Five further pits were recorded, some containing Early Roman pottery. Four of the pits excavated in 2011 and 2012 were likely used for domestic waste, but the remaining five have been interpreted as possible extraction pits. It is likely that these features represent small-scale domestic settlement along the nearby Roman road previously identified as cropmarks (NHER19725).
See report (S8) for further information.
H. Hamilton (HES), 30 October 2012.