NHER 52796 (Monument record) - Medieval/post-medieval ditch and poorly dated features and multi-period finds

January 2009. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site within grounds of RAF Feltwell.
Only eight of the thirty-nine trenches excavated contained potentially archaeologically significant features.
The more convincing features included two reasonably well-defined pits. Although these features produced no dating evidence a medieval pottery sherd was recovered during initial cleaning and a second medieval sherd was found in a nearby unstratified context.
The four linear features identified included two probable ditches, both of which were present in at least two trenches. A single Roman pottery sherd was recovered from the east-to-west aligned ditch and the north-to-south aligned ditch produced a mix of medieval and post-medieval finds. The latter showed evidence of having been recut and may have been in use for some time.
Unstratified finds of note included a number of Early Iron Age pottery sherds, the majority of which were from a single, semi-complete but fragmented vessel that was found lying on the natural in the base of a trench (with no indication of any associated feature). Other unstratified finds included a Roman coin and a medieval lead seal matrix.
A number of the trenches in the centre of the site contained 20th-century building debris and concrete footings. The fact that these features were sealed beneath a modern topsoil suggests wholesale landscaping of the site.
See report (S1) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2010.49).
P. Watkins (HES), 25 August 2015. Amended, 28 July 2023.