NHER 64845 (Monument record) - Late Saxon to medieval remains

October-November 2018. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of proposed development site comprising five small fields and paddocks surrounding Westhall Farm (previously West Hall Farm), three of which fall within the northernmost part of an area in which earthworks of possible medieval date are visible on 1976 aerial photographs (recorded as NHER 35473). At the time of this work all parts of these plots were either under grass or covered with dense areas of vegetation.
A walkover survey undertaken as part of this study confirmed the survival of earthwork features, recording two arms of a probable enclosure ditch and another, straight ditch in the plot immediately to the north of Manor Farm Cottage. A north-north-west to south-south-east aligned broad hollow was also identified in the plot to the east, south of Westhall Farm. This latter feature appears to correspond with a boundary shown on a map of 1726 (S1). This map is an important source as other boundaries its depicts clearly correspond with at least one of the earthworks recorded to the south, plus a number of ditches of possible medieval date that were revealed by archaeological work in the field to the south-east of this site (NHER 64842).
It is suggested that the main earthworks may well represent an area of medieval settlement adjacent to Gayton Common, which is shown on Faden’s map of 1797 (S2) to have occupied a large area to the west of the site. Based on evidence from the surrounding area the potential for earlier remains was though adjudged to be relatively low.
Faden’s map also shows a road or track that does not appear on the 1726 map, running between the Lynn Road and the common. This is almost certainly the same route way as a bridleway that currently runs to the north of the site, linking Springvale to the west with Vicarage Lane to the east.
Structures associated with the original Wes Hall Farm are depicted for the first time on an enclosure map of 1813 (S3), which shows a group of buildings arranged around three side of a courtyard (the open, northern side of which was adjacent to the aforementioned track). The Gayton Tithe map of 1839 (S4) shows that the building on the west side of the courtyard was the farmhouse. This map also depicts a new, east-to-west aligned range of outbuildings on the northern side of the yard to the west of the main courtyard. Early Ordnance Survey maps suggest that by the beginning of the early 20th century this yard was occupied by what was probably a walled kitchen garden. Later maps indicate that the majority of the late 18th- or early 19th-cenuty buildings associated with West Hall Farm were demolished at some time between 1958 and 1981.
See report (S5) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 11 April 2021.

April and October 2019. Earthwork Survey.
Analytical earthwork survey of proposed development site.
This survey was undertaken after a site visit in October 2018 (see above) confirmed the survival of earthworks within the proposed development area that had previously been noted on aerial photograph of this area taken 1976 (recorded as NHER 35473). The entirely of this site was examined, plus additional areas to the north and east (where groups of probable ridge and furrow earthworks were recorded). It should though be noted that only the northernmost part of the area originally recorded as containing cropmarks was examined, the land to the south being unaffected by this particular proposed development.
The most significant earthworks identified lay in the western and central parts of the plot immediately to the north of Manor Farm Cottage, i.e. where earthworks had been noted in 2018 and within the area in which features had been recorded as visible on the aerial photographs. These earthworks consist of a series of reasonably well-preserved ditches that appear to define several separate plots, within which lie at least two possible building platforms. Although the plots appear to be aligned parallel to the extant bridleway that crosses the northernmost part of the site, the orientations of the ditches are markedly different to those of the (presumably later) features likely to be associated with the original West Hall Farm. The latter include a brick wall and associated earthwork ditch that lie along the northern boundary of this plot. This boundary has been in existence since at least the early 18th century and from the early 18th century onwards it formed the southern side of what was first a yard associated with West Hall Farm and then a probable walled garden. Earthworks were also recorded in the area of the former yard and walled garden, including appeared to be an 'L'-shaped raised platform or occupation area, an adjacent, smaller possible platform and two depressions. A sub-rectangular depression at the western edge of this area corresponds with a former pond that is first depicted on the Gayton Enclosure Map of 1813 (S3). The nature of the other earthworks in this plot is uncertain, primarily due to the nature of the known late post-medieval activity. Some were clearly modern, including a small deep pit containing modern rubbish and two small mounds of modern debris. Two small negative earthworks that are also thought to be the result of relatively recent activity. These features presumably relate to the demolition of the 18th- or early 19th-century farm buildings in the latter half of the 20th century.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
See NHER 35473 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 April 2021.

October 2019. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
A total of 17 trenches were excavated, the majority of which were positioned to investigate the earthworks recorded by the preceding survey. A range of linear features were exposed, along with several pits and other discrete features. Although dating evidence was fairly scarce the varying alignments of the ditches suggest that they were potentially associated with up to three distinct phases of activity (not including any of the features thought to be of late post-medieval to modern date). The pottery assemblage recovered consists primarily of Late Saxon and early medieval wares, although medieval coarsewares and a small number of glazed medieval sherds are also present. As would be expected, the bulk of this pottery is likely to represent products of the known local production centres at Grimston and Blackborough End. The assemblage is broadly comparable with the pottery recovered during earlier work to the south-east (NHER 64842), where late medieval and post-medieval sherds were also notably absent (despite the fact that many of the ditches present there appeared to have been associated with field boundaries that were still extant in the early 18th century).
Although much of the earliest pottery appeared to be residual within later features it seems clear that occupation had commenced by at least the 11th century and it is therefore possible that some of the potentially earlier ditches were associated with this phase of activity.
Small assemblages of medieval pottery were recovered from several ditches, including some that coincided with similarly-aligned linear earthworks, as well as at least one on a differing alignment. The ditches associated with the extant earthworks therefore appear to represent a final phase of medieval activity and it is argued that various similarly-aligned features beyond the earthworks are also likely to post-date the other ditches of probable Late Saxon to medieval date. The relationship between the earthworks and the corresponding subsurface remains wasn’t though entirely straightforward, with some of the ditches recorded as actually being sealed by subsoil and at least one a recut of an earlier feature. Several of the negative earthworks had also been disturbed by what appeared to be modern drainage features.
Other notable remains included a narrow linear feature with what appeared to be vertical sides that was exposed in the south-western part of the site. This coincided with one of the possible building platforms identified by the earthwork survey and was therefore tentatively interpreted as a beam slot.
The various discrete features identified included two large pits in the central part of the site that both produced dating evidence. The first of these was potentially associated with the Late Saxon/11th-century phase of activity, its lower fills producing exclusively Late Saxon pottery. These fills included dumps of mixed debris that potentially originated from an oven. This material was overlain by a dump of charcoal-rich material that contained fragments of charred and worked wood. A sample from this deposit produced a significant assemblage of charred plant macrofossils, including abundant grain (a mix of wheat, cultivated oat, barley and rye), various weed seeds and debris that may indicate the burning of peat. A sample from one of the potentially earlier ditches in this part of the site was also found to contain what appears to have been a discrete deposit of burnt grain (abundant rye with frequent free-threshing bread wheat and occasional barley). Some of this grain displays evidence of having germinated, suggesting some may have been used to brew ale. This ditch was cut by the second of the large pits, which produced a small number of medieval pottery sherds.
In addition to the charred material, many of the samples taken from features of probable Late Saxon to medieval date were also found to contain waterlogged plant remains.
It is notable that the majority of the potentially Late Saxon to medieval remains were exposed in the southern plots, within the vicinity of the main earthworks. The area to the north revealed a single possible medieval ditch but little else of great archaeological significance. As noted above, this area had previously been a yard and possibly a walled garden associated with West Hall Farm and the majority of the remains exposed were associated with this late post-medieval to modern phase of activity. These included brick walls, a well and areas of modern disturbance that presumably related to the demolition of the farm buildings in the latter half of the 20th century.
See report (S6) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 11 April 2021.

June-July 2020. Excavation.
This final phase of work ahead of the redevelopment of the site saw the partial excavation of the south-westernmost plot, where the preceding evaluations had identified the densest concentration of surviving earthworks and other, sub-surface archaeological remains.
A complex cluster of intercutting ditches was revealed that is likely to represent multiple phases of Late Saxon to medieval activity.
Further details awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 April 2021.