NHER 53107 (Monument record) - Medieval features at the former United Reformed Church, Garnham Road

November 2009. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
This work revealed medieval features including a probable trackside ditch containing animal bone and a clench bolt sealed with a deposit containing 12th to 14th century ceramic building material and a pit containing late 12th to 14th century pottery, ceramic building material and an iron bolt. A probable rough yard area was revealed containing occasional charcoal flecks, lumps of grey clay, 13th to 14th century pottery and animal bone. This area was cut by an oval refuse pit containing early 13th century pottery, animal bone and ceramic building material.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.464).
S. Howard (NLA), 30 March 2010. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 April 2019.

May 2010. Excavation.
Excavation of main proposed development footprint.
Early prehistoric activity within the area is suggested by the presence of a large flint blade of Late Upper Palaeolithic to Early Neolithic date (but probably from the later part of this range) and a small number of other, less diagnostic worked flints.
Four large late medieval waste pits were recorded which may have originated as sand extraction pits prior to use for refuse disposal. A pit which was truncated in the north-eastern corner also showed evidence of a clay lining and may have originally had an industrial function but no residues or evidence of industrial waste were recovered. Several smaller waste pits were observed with one containing a particularly ashy deposit including fragments of a medieval jar. Three late medieval post-holes were also observed, along with two phases of a trackside ditch and two plot boundary ditches.
Later activity in this area included a waste pit of 16th- or 17th-century date and a small number of 19th- to early 20th-century pits, one of which contained the articulated remains of two small piglets.
Final report awaited. See assessment report (S3) for further details.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2010.209).
S. Howard (NLA), 6 October 2010. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 27 April 2019.