NHER 60681 (Monument record) - Middle Iron Age, Roman and undated remains

September 2012. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of potential archaeological impact of proposed development.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 23 January 2024.

November 2013. Geophysical Survey.
A detailed magnetometer survey was carried out over approximately 6.5 ha of land prior to proposed residential development. Two fragmented west-north-west to east-south-east linear anomalies identified in the north-eastern part of the site are both thought to represent ditches. An extensive, low-magnitude north-west to south-east aligned linear anomaly is interpreted as a field drain.
All other anomalies detected during the survey have been identified as the results of natural geological variation, modern agricultural activity, and the presence of modern service pipes. It is notable that two former field boundaries depicted on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map (S2) were not evident within the survey, indicating that magnetic susceptibility is low within the prevailing soils in this area.
See report (S3) for further information.
H. Hamilton (HES), 23 March 2015. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 23 January 2024.

February 2014. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
The sixteen trenches excavated revealed a number of ditches and a single pit – the majority of which produced little or no dating evidence.
The pit was a sub-circular feature with heat-scorched margins and a dark, charcoal rich fill that contained a significant quantity of burnt flint. Three worked flints of probable Early Neolithic date were recovered from this feature, suggesting a possible prehistoric date. Early Neolithic worked flints were also recovered from several of the ditches, although in all cases the quantities were small. The assemblage comprises two scrapers, a denticulate made on a crested blade, a blade core, several blades and a small number of blade-like flakes.
The only other datable finds recovered from the ditches were two medieval pottery sherds, one of which came from an east-to-west aligned feature towards the southern end of the site that appeared to be associated with surviving bank deposits.
There was little correlation between the results of this work and those of the preceding geophysical survey, which had failed to identified the majority of the probable ditches recorded. The one exception was the extensive north-north-west to south-south-east aligned linear anomaly that had been recorded as a probable field drain. There was no evidence for sub-surface remains associated with the two parallel, west-north-west to east-south-east anomalies that had been thought to represent ditches.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.233).
See NHER 40121 for the results of a field survey undertaken as part of this evaluation.
P. Watkins (HES), 23 January 2024.

February 2014. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
The sixteen trenches excavated revealed a number of ditches and a single pit – the majority of which produced little or no dating evidence.
The pit was a sub-circular feature with heat-scorched margins and a dark, charcoal rich fill that contained a significant quantity of burnt flint. Three worked flints of probable Early Neolithic date were recovered from this feature, suggesting a possible prehistoric date. Early Neolithic worked flints were also recovered from several of the ditches, although in all cases the quantities were small. The assemblage comprises two scrapers, a denticulate made on a crested blade, a blade core, several blades and a small number of blade-like flakes.
The only other datable finds recovered from the ditches were two medieval pottery sherds, one of which came from an east-to-west aligned feature towards the southern end of the site that appeared to be associated with surviving bank deposits.
There was little correlation between the results of this work and those of the preceding geophysical survey, which had failed to identified the majority of the probable ditches recorded. The one exception was the extensive north-north-west to south-south-east aligned linear anomaly that had been recorded as a probable field drain. There was no evidence for sub-surface remains associated with the two parallel, west-north-west to east-south-east anomalies that had been thought to represent ditches.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.233).
See NHER 40121 for the results of a field survey undertaken as part of this evaluation.
P. Watkins (HES), 23 January 2024.

January 2015. Excavation.
This final phase of archaeological mitigation saw the excavation of five areas in the central part of the site, where the majority of the features identified by the preceding evaluation had lain. The largest of these areas revealed several features of probable Middle Iron Age date and demonstrated that two of the previously identified ditches had formed part of a Roman enclosure. A smaller area excavated to the east revealed only a single undated ditch. There small areas were also excavated to the west of the main excavation area in order to confirm the line of the Roman enclosure ditch.
Evidence for earlier activity was limited to a small assemblage of predominantly Early Neolithic worked flints, most, if not all, of which were likely to be residual within later features.
The bulk of the Middle Iron Age pottery recovered came from an extensive concentration of pits and irregular linear features exposed at the northern end of the main excavation area. Several sherds were also recovered from one of a group of otherwise undated pits identified to the south. It is reasonably likely that many of the undated features were associated with this phase of activity.
The main section of the Roman ditch was aligned north-west to south-east and clearly corresponded with a feature identified by the trial trenching and the extensive linear anomaly identified by the initial geophysical survey. At its southern end it turned westwards, onto a north-east to south-west alignment, which it maintained until at least the western edge of the site. The small assemblage of pottery recovered from this ditch was dominated by late Roman shell-tempered ware. Notably, it was also found to contain fragments of Roman roof tile and several pieces of a box flue tile – suggesting the presence of a substantial building somewhere in the vicinity. Several iron nails and a small assemblage of animal bone were also recovered from this ditch. Although no other features of definite Roman date were identified it should be noted that the main excavation area exposed only a small part of the enclosure’s interior, the bulk of which lies in the field to the west.
There was no evidence for significant post-Roman activity.
The most notable of the undated pits was a circular feature within the Roman enclosure that had vertical sides, a flat base and a very dark, charcoal-rich fill. A sample taken from this deposit produced charcoal but little else in the way of plant macrofossils. Unfortunately no samples were taken from either the more convincingly dated Middle Iron Age features or the Roman ditch.
Unstratified finds were limited to a small assemblage of post-medieval metal objects, including a silver coin, buckle, copper alloy weight and possible musket ball.
See assessment report (S4) for further details. Final report awaited.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.290).
P. Watkins (HES), 23 January 2024.