NHER 64838 (Monument record) - Middle/Late Saxon charcoal pits and other, late post-medieval/modern and undated remains

May 2017. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of large proposed development area close to White House Farm.
This study concluded that this land had a low/moderate potential to contain archaeological remains of Late Prehistoric to modern date.
The available cartographic sources suggest that this site has been arable land since at least the late post-medieval period.
No archaeologically- or historically-significant features were noted during a brief site visit.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 April 2021.

March 2018. Geophysical Survey.
Detailed magnetometer survey of proposed development site (Field 2).
Potentially archaeologically-significant responses included a pair of parallel, somewhat sinuous fragmentary east-north-east to west-south-west aligned positive linear anomalies in the southern half of the site. A number of other short linear anomalies may also represent infilled ditches. A north-west to south-east aligned linear anomalies to the north corresponds with a former field boundary depicted on the Sprowston tithe map of 1842 (S2). Several of the discrete anomalies were also regarded as potentially representing infilled pits.
Other responses included various linear anomalies of probable agricultural origin. Various discrete dipolar anomalies most likely represent ferrous objects in the topsoil, although it is noted that these can also indicate the presence of thermoremnant features such as kilns or furnaces. Discrete, amorphous patches of magnetic disturbance scattered across the site were of uncertain origins (having many possible causes).
Information from report uploaded to OASIS. HER copy awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 April 2021.

November 2018. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site (Area B).
The thirteen trenches excavated at this site (Trenches 8-20) revealed two ditches and a number of pits.
One of the ditches is a north-west to south-east aligned feature that corresponds with both a geophysical anomaly and a boundary shown on the Sprowston tithe map (S2). This produced fragments of clinker and ceramic building material. The second ditch was an undated north-east to south-west aligned feature to the west. None of the other linear geophysical anomalies were found to be associated with archaeologically-significant remains.
The pits included two adjacent features of relatively recent date exposed in a trench close to the northern edge of the site. The first contained fragments of 19th /20th-century pottery and bottle glass, a clay tobacco pipe stem and fragments of brick and tile. The ceramic building material recovered from this pit and the nearby boundary ditch includes bricks that appear to date to the early post-medieval period. These potentially represent debris from nearby Sprowston Hall (NHER 8159), which was built of red brick during the 16th- century and is known to have been rebuilt during the late 19th century. A dump of similar material was found in another rubbish pit exposed at the site to the west (NHER 64837). The second pit contained the partial skeleton of a sheep and also produced a single sherd of 19th/20th-century pottery.
The three other pits were dispersed, undated sub-circular features that all had charcoal-rich fills and/or evidence for in situ burning. These appear to have been broadly similar to features that are often now regarded as associated with charcoal production and therefore potentially represent an early phase of activity taken place on what would have once been the margins of Mousehold Heath. One of these features produced an abraded (presumably residual) flint blade core of Mesolithic/Early Neolithic date.
It should be noted that a number of the excavated pits were associated with corresponding discrete geophysical anomalies.
See report (S3) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2021.12).
P. Watkins (HES), 7 April 2021. Amended 8 December 2022.

March-April 2022. Excavation.
This final phase of archaeological mitigation saw the excavation of a single 50m square area at this location (Area 1), which targeted the more notable of the remains uncovered during the preceding evaluation.
Features exposed included seven pits with charcoal-rich fills and slightly heat scorched margins, all but one of which lay within a single cluster. These shallow, sub-circular features were very similar to features seen elsewhere on former woodland or heathland sites in the Norwich environs that are now thought to represent the traces of small-scale charcoal production. Samples taken from their fills produced charcoal but little else in the way of plant macrofossils or other debris. As appears to be typical for such features, the charcoal recovered was dominated by oak, although occasional occurrences of birch, cherry/blackthorn, lime and ivy were also noted. Dating evidence was limited to a single Roman pottery sherd, although this was almost certainly residual, as charcoal samples from the seven pits produced Middle to Late Saxon radiocarbon dates of cal AD 894-1030 at 95.4 % probability (Beta-632955; 1060 ± 30 BP), cal AD 882-1016 at 95.4 % probability (Beta-632956; 1110 ± 30 BP), cal AD 892-1023 at 95.4 % probability (Beta-632957; 1080 ± 30 BP), cal AD 702-892 at 95.4 % probability (Beta-632958; 1210 ± 30 BP), cal AD 776-994 at 95.4 % probability (Beta-632959; 1120 ± 30 BP), cal AD 686-888 at 95.4 % probability (Beta-632960; 1220 ± 30 BP) and cal AD 882-1016 at 95.4 % probability (Beta-632961; 1110 ± 30 BP). Other finds were limited to two tiny fragments of glass (probably instrusive) and a piece of burnt bone – all of which were recovered from samples. A single pit within the main cluster did not have either a charcoal-rich fill or scorched margins and had therefore potentially had a different function.
A north-west to south-east aligned ditch corresponds with a former field boundary depicted on the Sprowston tithe map of 1842 (S2) and had also been encountered during the preceding evaluation. Several fragments of post-medieval tile were recovered from this feature.
Unstratified finds were limited to a small assemblage of late post-medieval to modern and undated metal objects.
See report (S4) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 8 January 2025.