NHER 58811 (Monument record) - Possible medieval field boundaries, post medieval drainage ditches, and Upper Palaeolithic or Mesolithic blade

January 2011. Desk-based Assessment.
Documentary sources were consulted and a site visit was carried out in order to assess the potentital nature, importance and survival of archaeological remains in this area.
At the time of the site walkover visit the existing structures had been demolished and several piles of rubble from this work were present. It appeared that a degree of levelling occurred during the demolition work and blocks of hardstanding were removed, but all rubble appeared to be modern. No new finds or features were observed during the site visit.
See report (S1) for further details.
H. Hamilton (HES), 16 May 2013.

February 2013. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
The fourteen trial trenches recorded a series of ditches across this site. These features have been interpreted as post medieval drainage ditches and field boundaries, with some possible medieval field boundaries. The ditches are predominantly aligned north-west to south-east, which respects alignments depicted on the first and second edition Ordnance Survey maps. One east-west ditch recorded within two of the trial trenches also corresponds with a large drainage ditch depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map. This area appears to have been frequently wet and the recorded ditches were frequently re-dug. It has been suggested that there may have been an attempt to drain the eastern half of the area for arable use in the later post medieval or early modern period.
Very few finds were recovered from the excavated features. The only find of note is an Upper Palaeolithic or Mesolithic flint blade which was recovered from the top of the natural sands. The blade was situated on a slight rise which may have been dry ground on the edge of the wetlands.
See report (S2) for further information.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2023.115).
H. Hamilton (HES), 10 May 2013. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 12 July 2023.