NHER 54660 (Monument record) - Medieval and post medieval settlement, field systems, trackways and finds

October 2011. Norfolk NMP.
This is a parent record encompassing the evidence of medieval to post medieval settlement, enclosure and communication routes surrounding the village of Kimberley. Former tofts, field boundaries and roads, for example, are evident as earthworks and cropmarks, primarily visible on aerial photographs (particularly (S1)-(S2)) but also observed on the ground (NHER 8893-4, 12723, 14401), between TG 0721 0452 and TG 0577 0337. Pottery and other material ranging in date from the Late Saxon to the post medieval period has also been recovered (NHER 28146, 28405, 12723). Together they attest to the changing nature of the village and its environs, and the shifting pattern of settlement and enclosure.
Extending for nearly 2km northeast to southwest, and up to 520m wide, considerable variation is evident across the area. The northern section, close to Kimberley church (NHER 8917), appears to be the earliest. Here surface finds (NHER 12723) and excavated evidence (NHER 54661 and (S3)) indicate occupation and enclosure from at least the early medieval period onwards. This ranged along what is now Norwich/Station Road, the former course of which (NHER 54661) is now partially preserved as an earthwork within Kimberley Park (NHER 30466). Further south, stretching from the railway line to the parish boundary with Hardingham, a series of large, somewhat irregularly shaped-enclosures perhaps represent a later medieval phase of enclosure and perhaps settlement (NHER 8893). Finds from this area are of predominantly late medieval/early post medieval date. Behind the enclosures, away from the road, remnants of contemporary and later fields and boundaries are visible. These surround a possible barrow and/or post mill site (NHER 54662). Between the two areas, to the immediate north of the railway, a post medieval trackway could have earlier origins but surrounding field boundaries are likely to be of relatively late date (NHER 34659).
The proximity of Kimberley Park (NHER 30466) at its northeastern corner has very probably had a role in shaping the village, and vice versa. The hollow way at the northern end of the village (NHER 54661) was still a public road in 1766 (S4), moving westwards and being straightened to become what is now Norwich Road at some point after this. Presuming that the road never ran through the park, the park boundary must have been expanded to incorporate the now defunct hollow way and adjoining, medieval, property boundary. Whether a reorganisation of the park led to the straightening of the road or vice versa is not known. What is clear, however, is that apart from the hollow way and property boundary just described, the settlement and enclosure earthworks relating to the village do not appear to extend further westwards into the park, no doubt reflecting its medieval origins (see NHER 30466). Banks, causeways and hollow ways within the park, however, do provide evidence of a link between the park, its multiple hall sites (in particular NHER 8918), the church/village and the surrounding road network (S1).
S. Tremlett (NMP), 11 October 2011.