NHER 4255 (Monument record) - Shouldham Priory

Gilbertine Priory, for monks and nuns.
Ruins in part removed 1840 when stained glass, stone coffin and skull in vessel found.
1867. Stone coffin found.
1871. Stone coffin found.
1940. Medieval tile and metalwork dug up.
1946. Medieval book tweezers or goldsmith's tool found.
1949-51. Roman coins, sherds and other items found.

1954. Coffin found during ploughing. See rough sketch (S29).

1954. Excavation of monastic cemetery. See unpublished report (S25). Also reported in (S8) and (S24). See rough sketches (S28).

1957. Floor of glazed tiles found.

1960. Stray Find.
Bronze Age Bucket Urn found.
Donated to King's Lynn Museum (KILLM : 1963.27).
Noted in (S14) and described and illustrated in (S15).
The urn is a Middle Bronze Age vessel of the Deverel-Rimbury tradition.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 8 August 2018.

1963 of before. Stray Find.
Found at "Abbey Farm Shouldham" (this site?).
Medieval enamelled horse harness stud. See drawing (S4) and sketch (S16).
Donated to the King's Lynn Museum (KILLM : 1963.99).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 8 August 2018.

1969. Excavation of medieval tile kiln.

1973. Excavation.
Excavation by [11] of soakaway for piggery at [12] (Context 1), close to site of Bronze Age urn found in 1960. This work confirmed that this is the site of a Bronze Age cremation cemetery, with five more interments revealed:
Nos 2 to 5 - urnless cremations.
No 6 - Bucket urn containing cremation. Opened by W. Milligan (NCM) in NCM lab and found to contain multiple cremations. See drawings (S12) and (S13). This urn was donated to the Norwich Castle Museum and subsequently passed to the King's Lynn Museum (KILLM : 1977.198).
See published report (S17) and unpublished report (S26) for further details. Also reported in (S1).
The urn is also described and illustrated in (S15) and (as with the earlier discovery) would now be regarded as an example of the Middle Bronze Age Deverel-Rimbury tradition.
Found nearby:
Deposit of 13th- to 14th-century architectural fragments.
Found at [13]:
Very large prehistoric flint flake with secondary working.
Information from (S14) and (S18).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 8 August 2018.

1975. Post medieval well of reused stone and Roman coin hoard found, only one identifiable - Antoninus Pius, with a possible kiln.
1977. Ditch noted in section.
1979. Road seen in section.
1980. Two post medieval house sites, medieval pits, ditched tofts and patch of tile found.
1982. Fenland fieldwalking. Roman and Iron Age sherds.
1983. Excavations revealed medieval-post medieval walls and sherds. See short report on cable trench watching brief (S22) and location plan of foundations excavated (S5).
1987. Fenland fieldwalking. Roman sherds.
1987. University of East AngliaFarm Building Survey. See unpublished survey form (S23).
1992. Metal-detected finds previously recorded under this number are now recorded under NHER 67264.
1993. Part of site destroyed by reservoir.
For full details of wares, flint types, etc., see Fenland folders.
See full details, including detailed analysis of site in file.
See 25in overlay as well as 6in.
E. Rose (NAU) 27 July 1990.

1 July 1976. Ordnance Survey aerial photography.
Positive cropmarks/earthworks.
Linear/curvilinear feature.
D. Voisey (NLA) 20 February 1995.

22 July 1993. NLA air photography.
Very little of archaeological remains visible bar earthworks to south of farm.
Newly excavated irrigation reservoir clearly visible.
See (S1).
M. Brennand (NLA) 7 February 2001.

28 April 1994. NLA aerial photography.
The earthworks of the priory are complex, water channels and enclosures can clearly be seen from the air photos. The details are the same as the existing earthwork plot. Cropmarks can be detected to the north of the earthworks. These are rectilinear enclosures relating to the priory layout.
See (S2).
S. Massey (NLA) 6 February 2001.

March 1996. Earthwork Survey.
Survey of surviving earthworks in grassland to south-west of Abbey Farm.
See report (S9) for plan and further details. This site is amongst those included in (S10) and the survey is also noted in (S11).
P. Watkins (HES), 21 March 2017.

November 2006.
Scheduled monument consent granted concerning archaeological evaluation by geophysical survey and trial trenching.
See (S3).
H. White (NLA), 6 April 2009.

2009-2023. Metal-detecting.
Metal-detected finds previously recorded under this number are now recorded under NHER 67264.
H. Hamilton (HES), 3 August 2023.