NHER 66660 (Monument record) - Late Iron Age to early Roman settlement and probable saltern

April 2014. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of potential archaeological impact of proposed development.
This study highlights the potential for the site to contain remains of prehistoric and Roman date.
See report (S1) for further details, including detailed map regression.
P. Watkins (HES), 18 January 2022.

August 2014. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of western portion of proposed development site.
The only responses of potential archaeological interest were a ‘Y’-shaped arrangement of east-to-west aligned weak positive linear anomalies crossing the central part of the site.
These coincide with previously identified cropmarks that appear to extend the line of probable trackway to the west (part of a group of potentially prehistoric or Roman features recorded as NHER 27400).
Although a number of other linear anomalies were recorded these are all thought to be the result of recent agricultural activity.
Scattered discrete magnetic spike were likely caused by ferrous object on or near the surface – most likely modern debris.
See report (S2) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 January 2023.

January 2016. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of main portion of large proposed development area (Trenches 1-10 and 13-20)
The 18 trenches excavated at this location revealed a range of ditches and pits, a number of which appear to have been associated with later Iron Age and early Roman phases of activity. No earlier features were identified, with evidence for pre-Iron Age activity on the site limited to a handful of worked flints of probable Mesolithic/Neolithic and Neolithic/Bronze Age date.
A small assemblage of handmade Iron Age pottery was recovered, the bulk of which came from a north-east to south-west aligned ditch at the western edge of the site and a nearby pit. This ditch coincided with a cropmark running between cropmarks that appear to represent a small sub-rectangular enclosure to the south-west and the extensive probable trackway to the north (all part of the group recorded as NHER 27400). Two nearby ditches were potentially associated with the small enclosure, although unfortunately both produced no dating evidence.
The bulk of the pottery recovered was of early Roman date, with this assemblage consisting primarily of cordoned jars of mid- to late 1st-century date. Features of probable early Roman date included a pair of parallel east-to-west aligned ditches that coincided with another of the previously recorded cropmarks. These also corresponded with the main geophysical anomaly identified by the preceding survey and appear to have continued the line of the northernmost of the two trackway ditches visible as cropmarks to the west. The largest assemblages of early Roman pottery were though recovered from a trench excavated to the north of these features. A north-to-south aligned ditch in this trench produced 54 pottery sherds, with a further 158 recovered from an adjacent plough scar. Fifty-seven pottery sherds of predominantly Early Roman date were also recovered from the subsoil in this trench. There was no evidence that this phase of activity had continued beyond the mid 2nd century AD and it is possible that it had drawn to a close well before then.
Two of the other ditches recorded can be seen to coincide with former field boundaries depicted on the Ormesby St Margaret Tithe map (S3) but there was no other evidence for significant post-Roman activity on the site.
The undated features included a number of scattered pits, the majority of which lay in the southern and northernmost parts of the site. These fairly unremarkable features were mostly likely associated with the later Iron Age to early Roman phases of activity.
Information from draft report.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 January 2023.

June-August 2016. Excavation.
This final phase of archaeological mitigation prior to development saw the excavation of two adjacent areas in the southern half of the site, where remains of probable Iron Age to Roman date had been exposed by the preceding work. A range of additional features of similar age were recorded, along with important evidence for early salt production.
A notable proportion of the pottery assemblage recovered consists of handmade Iron Age pottery, with the majority identified as being of later Iron Age date and only a small number of sherds recorded as Late Iron Age. The conservative nature of Iron Age pottery traditions in the region means it is hard to be certain exactly when this phase of occupation began, although there are suggestions it could have been as early as the earlier part of the Middle Iron Age. The Roman assemblage was directly comparable with that recovered during the evaluation, being exclusively of early Roman date and suggestive of a peak in activity during the decades following the conquest. Nothing of 2nd century or later date was recovered, suggesting the site may well have been abandoned at the end of the 1st century AD.
A small assemblage of worked flints again provided evidence for at least some degree of limited activity on the site prior to the Middle Iron Age. A small number of pottery sherds were also identified as potentially Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age in date, although these sherds all appear to have been residual within later features.
The features most likely to be associated with the later Iron Age phase of activity were a relatively complex group of interrelated ditches at the western edge of the site, most of which corresponded with previously mapped cropmarks (all part of the group of potentially prehistoric or Roman features recorded as NHER 27400). These ditches included several likely to have formed the eastern end of a small rectilinear enclosure and a north-east to south-west aligned feature running between the north-east corner of this enclosure and a pair of north-west to south-east aligned probable trackway ditches. This connecting ditch was contemporary with the enclosure and also clearly related to the trackway, as it terminated at the point where it met the outermost ditch. The inner trackway ditch also halted at the point where it met this ditch. An 'L'-shaped arrangement of four post-holes close to the enclosure was potentially the remains of a contemporary structure, although dating evidence was limited to two Iron Age pottery sherds. It is possible that an undated north-east to south-west aligned ditch in the eastern excavation area was associated with this phase of activity.
It was clear that, as suggested by the preceding work, the main focus of activity during the early Roman period had lain to the east of the main concentration of Iron Age remains. The features of probable early Roman date included a rectilinear enclosure, the southern side of which had potentially been formed by an extensive east-to-west aligned ditch that continued the line of one of the two trackway ditches at the western edge of the site. This feature had been recut on at least one occasion and the enclosure itself also appeared to have replaced an earlier arrangement of ditches - one of which also appeared to have formed an enclosure adjacent to the extensive boundary. Several north-to-south aligned ditches had probably been associated with this earlier enclosure. All of these ditches produced varying quantities of early Roman pottery.
Other features of probable early Roman date included a number of pits and a small uninterrupted ring-ditch to the east of the enclosures. The ring-ditch had an external diameter of 4.25m and produced a small number of Roman pottery sherds and several fragments of glass, including part of a Roman blue glass bead. Although the exact function of this feature is uncertain, it is notable that it lay close to where an evaluation trench had uncovered several large assemblages of Roman pottery.
Of particularly interest was the evidence for at least one saltern (salt production site) at this location. A clay-lined rectangular feature at the western edge of the site with a flue on one side and evidence for in situ burning had almost certainly been a heath used during the evaporation of brine, which would have been contained within broad pans positioned above the heat source. A large of amount of fragmentary briquetage (the crude fired clay objects used to separate and support these pans) was recovered from the fills of this structure and it appears that its clay walls had also had the purplish discolouration typically associated with salt production. This structure clearly post-dated one of the Iron Age ditches, although its alignment with the edge of this feature suggests that the hollow of a partially infilled ditch may have been deliberately utilised for the shelter it offered. The date of this hearth is currently seen as undetermined, primarily as it lay within a part of the site where the majority of the features appear to have been of Iron Age date. On current evidence an early Roman date is probably more likely, given that it contained fragments of Roman pottery and glass and truncated a ditch that had produced a significant proportion of the Late Iron Age pottery recovered. Although a number of the Iron Age ditches also produced fragments of briquetage it is noted that the largest assemblage came from the upper fill of one of these features. Briquetage (including structural fragments) were also recovered from a range of other features on the site, including several of the early Roman pits and ditches - suggesting that multiple salterns may well have been operating in the vicinity.
There was little evidence for activity on the site after the early Roman period with post-medieval ditches the only features of definite later date identified. One of these ditches produced a range of post-medieval finds and corresponded with a former field boundary depicted on the Ormesby St Margaret Tithe map (S3).
See assessment report (S4) for further details. Final reports awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 February 2023.