NHER 7120 (Monument record) - Site of St Andrew's Church, medieval moat and tofts, Hempton

(Ordnance Survey).
In ruins by 1495 (S1) (6 inch map) marks site as on edge of old pit.

28 October 1976.
This is now an area of uneven ground overgrown with bushes.
No trace of church.
E. Rose (NAU)

(S2) says that heaps of stones mark the site, and that tombstones have been found 'in living memory'.
See (S1), he says that the church was still in use in 1548. Some material was taken to build the new church.
E. Rose (NAU)

For additional details regarding St Andrew's Church see sappropriate section from (S3) in file.

19 December 1978.
Flint and mortar wall with fragment of shaped limestone at TF 9066 2944 suggests Ordnance Survey wrong and this is site of church.
Northwest corner of field large rectangular dry pond U-shaped feature may be moat off extinct channel; along south side 5 toft? ditches although no trace of buildings within.
See Unit aerial photographs.
E. Rose (NAU).

Clearance of scrub from perimeter banks along south and west corner, has revealed pebble/flint walling, possibly of churchyard? Much of the scrub has been removed from remainder of site, except the ponds to southeast. Fragment of flint and mortar wall remains in situ on probable site of church.
H. Paterson (A&E), December 1992.

September 1994. Earthwork Survey.
Survey at 1:1000. Additional area now incorporates into site. Fieldwalking finds by B. Cushion (NLA) identified by A. Rogerson (NLA):
2 Roman pottery sherds (1 East Anglian colour coated and 1 probable Roman coarse greyware).
3 Late Saxon pottery sherds (1 Thetford Ware jar rim and 2 Thetford Ware body sherds)
13 medieval pottery sherds (1 rim fragment and 11 body sherds medieval unglazed and 1 glazed Grimston) 2 post-medieval pottery sherds (glazed red earthenware) and 2 roof tile fragments.
See report (S4) for plan and further details. This site was included in (S5) and the survey is also noted in (S6).
B. Cushion (NLA), September 1994. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 2 March 2015.

September-October 2015. Earthwork Survey and Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Archaeological work on route of new electrical cable, which ran along the western edge of this field.
An initial earthwork survey suggested the electrical cable would actually pass through an area that had been subject to both modern disturbance during the construction of the adjacent substation and earlier quarrying.
A subsequent excavation of this section of the working easement revealed only two undated pits, both of which had steeply sloping sides and flat bases. No finds were recovered.
See report (S2) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2019.234).
P. Watkins (HES), 3 September 2024.