NHER 64430 (Monument record) - Post-medieval boundary features and undated ditch and peat extraction pits

May-October 2010. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of new drainage dyke excavated to east of Waxham New Cut as part of the Broadland Flood Alleviation Project (Compartment 6a).
At approximately TG 4481 2342 topsoil stripping exposed a wide linear band of gravelly sand. A machine-excavated slot through this deposit revealed a ditch on a similar north-east to south-west alignment. A deposit that partially overlay the ditch fill was interpreted as the remains of a low bank. Dry wood fragments identified at the interface between the two deposits may have been the remains of wattle fence or panel. The upper surface of the overlying sandy gravel was slightly concave suggesting it had also once formed part of a low bank. No finds were recovered. These features do however appear to follow the line of the Horsey parish boundary and probably correspond with a ditch and bank shown at this location on the Horsey Tithe Map of 1840.
Closer to the north-west corner of the field several additional probable features were visible in the side of the newly excavated dyke. These include a substantial probable ditch and three shallower features interpreted as possible peat extraction pits.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 28 August 2020.