NHER 66694 (Monument record) - Multi-period remains including ?prehistoric pits and medieval and post-medieval ditches

November 2016. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of potential archaeological impact of large proposed development.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 March 2023.

May and October 2021. Geophysical Survey.
This magnetometer survey of part of a large proposed development site (Area 1) was undertaken in two stages, with the western half of the field examined in May 2021 and the remainder in October 2021.
This survey identified numerous archaeologically-significant anomalies close to the southern and eastern edges of the field, including a number of adjacent probable rectilinear enclosures. These coincide with a group of cropmarks thought to represent an area of former settlement ranged along a sinuous boundary that once marked the limited of Mousehold Heath (NHER 50729). It has therefore been suggested that these cropmarks potentially represent remains associated with an area of medieval to post-medieval common-edge settlement. The majority of the geophysical anomalies have corresponding cropmarks, although the reverse is not true, with this survey having revealed no evidence for surviving remains associated with many of the cropmarks in the main group. This was also the case for a number of scattered, fragmentary cropmarks mapped elsewhere in this field (part of a group of undated and potentially post-medieval features recorded as NHER 50725).
A small number of straight linear anomalies recorded elsewhere in the field correspond with former field boundaries depicted on the Rackheath tithe map of 1834 (S2).
The majority of the other anomalies of note are all likely to represent surviving structures and demolition debris associated with the former RAF airfield (NHER 8170). Several patches of magnetic disturbance clearly correspond with portions of the demolished runways, although these are primarily marked by lines of short perpendicular linear anomalies. These would have been adjacent to the known positions of the runways and therefore most likely represent associated drainage features. There was nothing to suggest that more substantial structural remains survive at this location.
See reports (S3) and (S4) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 March 2023.

September-December 2021. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of western half of field (Trenches 32-96).
The 65 trenches excavated in this field revealed a number of scattered linear and discrete features.
Potentially the earliest remains were two adjacent pits at TG 2851 1306 that both produced single sherds of undiagnostic prehistoric pottery (one very tentatively identified as potentially Bronze Age). One of these features had a charcoal-rich fill that contained numerous fragments of burnt flint.
A single potentially residual fragment of Roman brick was the only other evidence for activity on the site prior to the medieval period.
The trenches excavated at the southern end of the site revealed a number of ditches, several of which potentially corresponded with the geophysical anomalies and cropmarks recorded in this area. Dating evidence was limited to a small number of medieval pottery sherds, which were recovered from several east-to-west and north-to-south aligned features. This is though consistent with the interpretation of these remains as potentially representing features on the margins of an area of common-edge settlement. Although a number of possible pits were recorded in this area these were all fairly unremarkable features (several of which were potentially of natural origin).
A number of north-east to south-west and north-west to south-east aligned ditches in the northern half of the area examined coincided with former field boundaries depicted on the Rackheath tithe map (S2). One of these ditches produced a small assemblage of post-medieval pottery and late post-medieval pottery was also recovered from a pit adjacent to one of these features. A north-west to south-east aligned ditch to the south that coincided with one of the geophysical anomalies had probably been part of the same field system (albeit an element that had already been removed by the mid 19th century). Several fragments of post-medieval brick and tile and a single post-medieval pottery sherd were recovered from this feature (a Fletton brick of late 19th- or 20th-century date was probably intrusive). Fragments of post-medieval roof tile were also recovered from a north-north-east to south-south-west aligned ditch at the southern end of the field.
This work confirmed that the short linear geophysical anomalies adjacent to the runways of the World War Two airfield (NHER 8170) were indeed drains. A number of other linear anomalies were also shown to represent rubble-filled drains, including an extensive curvilinear response in the north-western part of the field.
Other features of note recorded elsewhere on the site included two pits with charcoal rich fills, one of which also had heat scorched margins. These are typical of the kinds of feature now thought to have been associated with early charcoal production. Finds were limited to a single sherd of medieval pottery, although this is consistent with the date of similar remains encountered elsewhere on the outskirts of Norwich (which mostly seem to relate to Late Saxon and medieval industries). A similar feature was recorded at the site to the west, along with a probable iron smelting furnace (see NHER 66693).
Other ditches recorded away from the southern end of the site included a number of east-to-west and north-to-south aligned features. These were undated, although the available evidence suggests they were likely to predate the post-medieval field system.
There was again little evidence for surviving sub-surface remains associated with the fragmentary cropmarks recorded as NHER 50725.
See report (S5) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2021.164).
P. Watkins (HES), 7 March 2023. Amended, 28 July 2023.

March 2022. Desk-based Assessment.
Updated archaeological assessment of large proposed development.
See report (S6) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 March 2023.