NHER 66013 (Monument record) - Late medieval to post-medieval pits and ditches

September 2011. Geophysical Survey.
Detailed magnetometer survey of proposed development site.
This survey identified a cluster of discrete areas of magnetic enhancement at the southern end of the site. These anomalies were identified as potentially archaeological in origin, although their nature was uncertain and it is possible that some or all were the result of variations in the underlying geology.
A small number of scattered discrete anomalies across the remainder of the site were more likely to be of geological origin.
Areas of magnetic disturbance around the margins of the site and scattered isolated dipolar anomalies were probably caused by ferrous material in the plough soil, most likely modern debris.
See report (S1) for further details.
Previously recorded under NHER 56797.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 18 August 2022.

March-April 2016. Strip, Map and Sample Excavation.
Partial excavation of site of proposed residential development.
This final phase of archaeological work targeted the southern end of the site, where the cluster of potentially significant discrete anomalies had been identified by the preceding geophysical survey.
A number of pits and several linear features were recorded, the bulk of which appear to have been post-medieval in date. Although late medieval and transitional wares form a notable component of the pottery assemblage recovered, this material was mostly either unstratified or present alongside later material. As a result, only two smaller pits are thought to have been associated with activity during this period. One also contained brick fragments of possible 15th-/16th-century date, along with animal bones and oyster shells that presumably represented dumped food waste. Evidence for earlier activity was limited to two prehistoric worked flints, two possible Roman tile fragments, a single sherd of medieval pottery, two medieval horseshoes and several fragments of lava quern.
The post-medieval remains included two groups of intercutting probable clay extraction pits. Pottery recovered from these features suggests they were probably infilled between the 18th and 19th centuries. This is consistent with the small assemblage of brick and tile fragments recovered, which are mostly of relatively late date. Other post-medieval finds from these features included pieces of clay tobacco pipe, fragments of bottle and vessel glass and a small assemblage of metal objects comprising buckles, a token, a thimble, a decorated disc from a 19th-century medal or pendant and a possible lead weight.
Two intercutting, parallel, north-north-east to south-south-west aligned ditches in the north-western part of the excavation area were also probably post-medieval. These ditches turned to the east towards their southern end, where they disappeared into the main group of probable extraction pits – suggesting a possible relationship between these two two groups of features. It should though be noted that finds were limited to single sherds of medieval and medieval/post-medieval pottery and a small fragment of post-medieval roof tile – the late post-medieval finds of the type recovered from the pits being conspicuously absent.
See report (S2) for further details.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.338).
P. Watkins (HES), 18 August 2022.