NHER 62531 (Monument record) - Multi-period features

2004-2005. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of proposed line of Norwich Northern Distributor Road.
See reports (S1) and (S2) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 26 July 2018.

March-June 2009. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey on proposed line of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road (Site G6).
This was one of two adjacent sites surveyed in order to investigate the large 'd'-shaped enclosure visible on aerial photographs of this area (NHER 51943).
This survey failed to identify any trace of the large enclosure. Although a number of anomalies were detected, none were thought to represent archaeologically-significant features. Small discrete dipolar anomalies detected across the survey area were almost certainly caused by fired or ferrous debris in the topsoil. Various weak linear anomalies were also identified, most, if not all of which are likely to be the result of cultivation practices.
See report (S3) for further details.
Previously recorded under NHER 49755.
P. Watkins (HES), 3 August 2015. Amended 26 July 2018.

April-May 2015. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation on proposed line of Norwich Northern Distributor Road (Field G6).
The majority of the 26 trenches excavated in this field revealed archaeologically-significant remains, including a range of linear features and several pits.
Although a small number of prehistoric and Roman finds were recovered, none of the excavated features could be confidently associated with these phases of activity. The prehistoric objects included worked flints of Mesolithic/Early Neolithic, Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age or later date and a single sherd of Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Beaker pottery.
The excavated features did however produce a total of 94 medieval pottery sherds suggesting at least some where probably associated with this phase of activity. The bulk of this pottery was however recovered from a single group of parallel north-east to south-west aligned ditches at the western edge of the site. The remaining sherds were scattered across a range of other linear features in the eastern half of the site.
Four of the trenches were placed to investigate a series of linear cropmarks thought to be either associated with or part of a 'D'-shaped cropmark enclosure mapped on the opposite side of Middle Road (NHER 51943). As expected these trenches revealed two parallel, curving ditches, between which lay a metalled surface that presumably represented the remains of a trackway. The finds recovered were mostly of relatively recent date, including post-medieval pottery and clay tobacco pipe fragments, a post-medieval/modern copper alloy button and abraded fragments of late brick or Roman tile. This material suggests that these features were potentially broadly contemporary with the enclosure ditch to the north, which appears to have still been at least partially open in the later post-medieval period (see NHER 62532 for further details).
Other features of probable post-medieval date included two north-to-south aligned ditches that produced post-medieval pottery sherds, at least one of which was also probably associated with a former field boundary depicted on an 19th-century tithe map. These features and another similarly-aligned but undated feature between them also correspond with three of the fragmentary cropmarks recorded in this field (NHER 51956). The easternmost of these ditches was also one of the few features to have been detected by the geophysical survey.
Perpendicular north-to-south and east-to-west aligned cropmarks that appeared to represent the sides of a small enclosure in the south-east corner of the field were also found to be have corresponding ditches, although these were both undated. There was however no evidence for surviving sub-surface remains associated with the cropmark thought to represent a 'D'-shaped enclosure of possible Iron Age to Roman date (NHER 51955).
This work also identified a range of ditches that were not associated with either cropmarks or geophysical anomalies. These features exhibited a wide range of alignments and produced little dating evidence apart from occasional sherds of medieval or post-medieval pottery. It is likely that they were associated with multiple phases of activity.
The small number of possible pits identified were all undated, including two small undated 'burnt pits' with dark, charcoal-rich fills. Samples taken from the fills of the later produced charcoal but little else in the way of charred plant macrofossils.
Two large, intercutting features in the southernmost trenches interpreted as ditches coincide with a cluster of irregular geophysical anomalies and were therefore potentially actually discrete features, particularly given the absence of any corresponding linear cropmarks. These features produced two sherds of Roman pottery and undatable iron fragments.
See report (S4) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 26 July 2018.

January-September 2016. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation of two sites on route of Norwich Northern Distributor Road (Areas 16 and 17).
Details awaited.

September 2016. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of possible development area at western end of field (Area F1 East).
This survey identified a semi-circular anomaly at the southern end of the field that may indicate the presence of a ring-ditch. A series of fragmentary rectilinear and curvilinear anomalies detected at the northern end of the field may also be associated with archaeologically significant remains, although they could be the result of geological features.
See report (S5) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 February 2018.

January 2017. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site of proposed new road and associated infrastructure at western end of field (Trenches 3-7).
All five of the trenches excavated in this field revealed archaeologically significant remains, which included a number of ditches and several discrete features.
The discrete features included several pits in the northernmost trench were of possible Early Neolithic date. The largest of these pits produced a single sherd of Early Neolithic pottery, two worked flints of potentially similar date and a sherd of medieval pottery that was considered to be intrusive. This feature had been truncated by a smaller pit that also produced flints of probable Early Neolithic date. An adjacent pit of similar size was potentially of the same date, although no finds were recovered from this feature.
It is likely that the majority of the other excavated features were associated with a much more recent phase of activity, with a medieval date suggested for many. Features that can be dated with a reasonably degree of confidence include a group of three relatively shallow pits in the northernmost trench, all of which produced assemblages of medieval pottery. The fills of these features were charcoal-flecked but otherwise unremarkable. Unfortunately the various ditches produced very little dating evidence. The majority were however aligned either north-north-west to south-south-west or east-south-east to west-south-west and may therefore have represented fragments of a single field system. Finds recovered included sherds of medieval pottery and a small amount of iron metal-working debris. Undated features included two isolated pits, one of which had a thick black, charcoal-rich primary fill - suggesting it may have been associated with some form of industrial activity such as charcoal production or ore roasting.
Unstratified finds were limited to a small number of prehistoric worked flints, including a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age knife and fabricator and a denticulated implement of later, Bronze Age or Iron Age date.
See report (S6) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 February 2018.

January 2017. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of excavation of engineering trial pits within proposed development area at western end of field (Trial Pits 14-15).
No archaeologically significant features or deposits exposed.
See report (S6) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 February 2018.

An archive presumed to comprise material from both phases of work in 2017 has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2019.244).
P. Watkins (HES), 9 December 2022.