NHER 60669 (Monument record) - Late Saxon to post-medieval remains

September 2012. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of potential archaeological impact of proposed development.
No features of archaeological or historical significance were noted during a brief site visit undertaken as part of this study.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 March 2023.

October 2012. Geophysical Survey
A detailed magnetometer survey was carried out over two fields in advance of proposed development.
Four linear anomalies of possible archaeological origin were identified along the north-eastern edge of the investigated area. One is oriented north-west to south-east and the others at right angles to this (two within the northern field and one in the southern field). They are all located at slightly oblique angles to the current field layout but do not appear on historic mapping. A large, discrete anomaly located adjacent to two of the above features has been identified as an in-filled extraction pit, possibly for gravel, similar to those depicted on historic maps.
All other magnetic responses have been interpreted as the result of modern ploughing, the presence of a modern track and service pipes, natural geological variation, and the presence of ferrous debris on the surface and/or within the topsoil.
See report (S2) for further information.
H. Hamilton (HES), 23 March 2015.

October 2015. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
The 20 trenches excavated revealed a number of linear and discrete features, the majority of which lay around the western, northern and eastern margins of the field. Although dating evidence was relatively scarce, the finds recovered suggest that most, if not all, of these remains were associated with Late Saxon to post-medieval phases of activity. Evidence for earlier activity was limited to a small assemblage of prehistoric worked flints and two sherds of Roman pottery, the majority of which were recovered from unstratified contexts. The worked flints included a group of blades and blade-based implements of probable Upper Palaeolithic to Early Neolithic date recovered during the excavation of the westernmost trench.
Features of possible Late Saxon date included a pit exposed in the westernmost trench that produced several sherds of Thetford-type ware pottery and two fragments of animal bone. A sample taken from the fill of this feature was found to contain a large quantity of wood charcoal and several charred grain fragments. An adjacent north-to-south aligned ditch also produced a single sherd of Late Saxon pottery and it is possible that an undated pit and post-hole in the same trench were also associated with this phase of activity.
A single sherd of Late Saxon pottery was also recovered from one of several large pits exposed in the north-east corner of the site. These were probably associated with the discrete geophysical anomalies identified in this area and were likely to represent quarry pits. Other finds from these pits included two medieval roof tiles and a single sherd of late medieval/early post-medieval pottery.
Post-medieval features included two adjacent north-east to south-west aligned ditches in the northernmost corner of the field, which correspond with the south-eastern boundary of a small plot of land shown adjacent to White Horse Lane on the Trowse Newton tithe map (S3). These produced two sherds of late post-medieval pottery, pantile fragments and a small assemblage of animal bone. The north-east to south-west aligned linear geophysical anomalies identified at the eastern edge of the site were also shown to correspond with a number of ditches of probable post-medieval date. These produced a tile of medieval/early post-medieval date, post-medieval peg tiles and several post-medieval pottery sherds.
The small number of undated features included an extensive north-west to south-east aligned ditch close to the northern edge of the field that coincided with another of the geophysical anomalies. Although this produced a single sherd of Roman pottery this was most likely residual.
Information from report uploaded to OASIS. HER copy awaited.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.606).
P. Watkins (HES), 12 March 2023.

January 2017. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of potential archaeological impact of proposed development at eastern end of site.
See report (S4) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 March 2023.