NHER 66667 (Monument record) - Late Saxon/medieval to post-medieval and undated remains

June-July 2016. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
All of the 15 trenches excavated revealed sequences of what were probably post-Roman alluvial layers beneath the modern topsoil. A range of linear and discrete features were also recorded, with intercutting remains present at several locations. The most complex sequences of deposits and features were recorded in the southernmost part of the site, in the vicinity of the possible saltern mound that had been visible as a low mound when the site was examined as part of the Fenland Survey in 1986 (see (S1) and NHER 22268 for further details). The exactly nature of these remains was though not entirely clear, with many of the features just recorded in section and many of the deposits only traceable for short distances. It is though notable that a number of the silt deposits showed evidence of being delibately dumped material, rather than alluvial accumulations. Several are also recorded as having contain flecks of charcoal and patches of what appeared to be reddened, burnt silt. The most interesting features in this part of the site were a pair of adjacent clay-lined pits. These were undated but potentially represented the remains of silt filtration tanks associated with medieval or earlier salt production (although a sample taken from the fill of one of these features was inconclusive as to its function).
One of the uppermost features in the most complex sequence of intercutting features produced a small quantity of Saxo-Norman and early medieval pottery and similar pottery was also recovered from a number of north-to-south alignd ditches recorded elsewhere on the site. Another, similarly-aligned ditch produced a single sherd of high medieval pottery and a brick of probable later medieval or post-medieval date, suggesting it was potentially associated with a later phase of activity. A similar brick fragment was recovered from a large feature interpreted as a possible pond. Other finds from the features of medieval or later date included several pieces of iron smithing slag, fragments of animal bone and cockle and mussel shells. Samples taken from the fills of the potentially early medieval features suggest a short-turfed grassland habitat was present at this time (presumably pasture), which was occasionally inundated with brackish water.
Other features of note include two adjacent ditches that potentially represented elements of a ring-ditch. Finds were limited to a small number of mostly undiagnostic fired clay and ceramic building material fragments, although it is noted that several of the latter were potentially post-medieval. A post-medieval date would not be entirely surprising as similar features elsewhere in the Fenland region are now often interpreted as representing the gullies associated with stack stands of relatively recent date.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2022.232).
P. Watkins (HES), 31 January 2023. Amended 27 April 2024.