NHER 66663 (Monument record) - Roman, medieval and undated remains

2010. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of proposed quarry extension area.
This survey identified a dense cluster of potentially archaeologically-significant responses at the western edge of the field, including several north-north-east to south-south-west and west-north-west to east-south-east aligned linear anomalies that appear to represent ditches associated with at least one substantial enclosure. It is unclear whether the western side of the enclosure lay in the field to the west or was actually formed by the adjacent lane. Numerous discrete anomalies were also recorded within and near the probable enclosure, suggesting this was potentially an area of former settlement.
It appears that the only responses of interest across the remainder of the field were a small number of scattered discrete anomalies.
Report awaited (details from report on 2011 trial trenching).
P. Watkins (HES), 23 January 2023.

August-October 2011. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed aggregate extraction area (Field 5; Trenches 59-91).
The 33 trenches excavated in this field revealed a range of linear and discrete features, many of which were potentially associated with Roman phases of activity. A sizable assemblage of Roman pottery comprising nearly 300 sherds was recovered from this field, which appears to span the period - with transitional and early Roman material of mid- to late 1st-century date present as well as late Roman pottery of 3rd- to mid-4th-century date. Two distinct areas of Roman activity can be discerned, with features containing early Roman pottery concentrated in the north-west part of the site and several features of probable late Roman date identified in the south-east corner of the field (and only sparse, undated features present in the area between). The potentially early Roman features included a number of ditches and pits, several of which coincided with a cluster of discrete geophysical anomalies identified adjacent to the probable enclosure at the western edge of the site. A possible earlier origin to activity at this particular location was hinted by the presence of a slightly curvilinear ditch that contained handmade pottery broadly dated as Late Bronze Age/Iron Age. A possible ring-ditch that might have been a roundhouse gully was also identified in this part of the site. This narrow feature produced no dating evidence but appeared to have been truncated by at least one of the potentially Roman ditches.
The late Roman features in the south-east corner of the site included a ditch and a large pit or ditch that both produced pottery and a range of other finds, including a small assemblage of Roman ceramic building material (comprising brick, tegula and imbrex fragments), daub, undiagnostic fired clay, animal bone, iron nails (including three hobnails) and fragments of iron slag. Another Roman feature of interest in this part of the site was an ovoid pit that displayed evidence of in situ burning and had possibly been some form of oven. One of the samples taken from its fills was found to contain abundant charred cereal grains (primarily hulled barley).
A number of the excavated ditches clearly coincided with the linear anomalies identified by the preceding geophysical survey and a number of pits and additional ditches were recorded within the interior of this probable enclosure. The date and nature of these features is though uncertain as the majority produced little in the way of dating evidence. The one notable exception was a north-north-east to south-south-west aligned ditch that continued the line of the eastern side of the enclosure. This feature contained a small assemblage of predominantly high medieval pottery, suggesting that the possibility of a later date for this enclosure cannot be discounted, despite the number of Roman features in the vicinity. Medieval pottery was also recovered from a similarly-aligned ditch and a pit at the southern end of the enclosure.
Undated feature of note elsewhere in this field included a shallow, sub-oval 'burnt pit', the fill of which was found to contain abundant oak charcoal but little else in the way of charred plant macrofossils.
One of the excavated ditches corresponds with a west-north-west to east-south-east aligned former field boundary depicted on the Swainsthorpe tithe map (S1).
See report (S2) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S3).
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2011.554).
See NHERs 9749, 37650, 57922 and 66386 for results of work in Fields 1-4.
P. Watkins (HES), 25 January 2023.