NHER 51524 (Monument record) - Late medieval ditches and post-medieval to modern remains

March 2008. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of proposed development areas.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 26 May 2015.

May 2008. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site. Contexts 1-191.
The earliest archaeological finds encoutered during the evaluation were eight fragments of worked or burnt flint. These were found within the topsoil and suggest that there was prehistoric activity in the area which may be linked to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age settlement found nearby (NHER 37644).
The earliest recorded archaeological feature was a ditch dated to the late medieval period. It was similar in alignment to other ditches found during the evaluation, and these features may represent intakes or enclosures made to the heath in the late medieval or early post-medieval periods. These enclosures may have been centred around a settlement in the vicinity of the church of SS Protase and Gervase (NHER 8491).
The next phase of activity dates to the 19th century. A wall dating to the late 19th century was found and appears to be similar to a parallel wall still standing to the north. These walls may be part of a formal or kitchen garden associated with the hall or the hospital (NHER 8492).
See report (S2) for further details.
See also (S3) and (S4).
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2024.150).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 16 September 2008. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 26 August 2024.

February 2013. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of large proposed development area (Little Plumstead Hospital West).
See report (S5) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 4 May 2021.

August-September 2016. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of part of large proposed development site (Trenches 1-2 and 4-6).
Six trenches excavated to the east of the previously investigated area revealed several ditches and pits, all of which were probably of relatively recent date.
Evidence for early activity was limited to five sherds of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery recovered from a probable colluvial deposit and a single Roman pottery that was residual within a later feature.
The majority of the excavated features were all clustered in the central easternmost part of the site, in the vicinity of TG 3073 1072. These included two adjacent east-to-west aligned ditches and a north-to-south aligned ditch to the west. One of the former produced a post-medieval roof tile and was truncated by a pit containing bricks of late 19th- to mid 20th-century date. Another of the ditches was also truncated by a later pit. An irregular third pit to the north-west of these features was not excavated as a 20th-century brick was recovered from its surface.
See report (S6) for further details.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.353).
P. Watkins (HES), 4 May 2021.