NHER 68652 (Monument record) - Prehistoric, Late Saxon/medieval and post-medieval to modern remains

September 2013. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of site of proposed extension to existing quarry.
This study concluded that the site has the potential to contain archaeological remains, particularly those of prehistoric date. It is though noted that the long-term presence of a managed woodland will have potentially adversely affected any surviving sub-surface remains.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 8 October 2024.

July-August 2021. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site of proposed extension to existing quarry.
The 59 trenches excavated revealed a single ditch and various discrete features.
Small assemblages of prehistoric worked flints and pottery demonstrate the site had seen at least limited activity during multiple periods. The majority of the worked flints are not closely datable, the exceptions being a Mesolithic/Early Neolithic blade and several well-made scrapers of probable Neolithic date. This material was mostly recovered from the central part of the site, although most pieces were either recovered from unstratified topsoil contexts or residual within later features. The small assemblage of prehistoric pottery largely lacks diagnostic sherds but appears to be predominantly Iron Age - although several grog-tempered sherds are likely to be of an earlier, Late Neolithic to Bronze Age date. Much of this material also come from unstratified contexts.
A number of pits were of likely or possible prehistoric date, all which were lay in the central part of the site. These included one pit that contained several sherds of Late Neolithic/Bronze Age pottery and another that contained two sherds of Bronze Age or Iron Age date. A sample from the fill of the latter produced a small assemblage of charred plant macrofossils, including sloe stones and possible brassica seed.
Pottery of likely Iron Age date was recovered from several pits, with two of the better-dated examples also containing burnt flints and a single fragment of fired clay. Samples from these two features both contained charcoal and indeterminate cereal grains.
There was little evidence for significant or sustained subsequent activity on the site, later finds being limited to a small number of Roman and medieval pottery sherds (all unstratified) and several post-medieval brick fragment.
Features of probable post-Roman date included a number of relatively shallow sub-circular pits containing layers of charcoal rich material, several of which also had heat-reddened margins indicative of in situ burning. Samples taken from these features were found to contain significant quantities of wood charcoal but little else in the way of charred plant macrofossils. Few finds were recovered. Although one pit produced a single sherd of Iron Age pottery and two flint flakes this material was residual – charcoal from this pit producing a Late Saxon to early medieval radiocarbon date of 989-1152 cal AD at 95.4% probability (SUERC-99982; 1015 ± 29 BP). It is highly likely that these features represented the remains of charcoal clamps – being similar to pits seen at numerous other sites in the Norwich environs that are now thought to represent the traces of small-scale Saxon and medieval charcoal production.
Various irregular discrete features represented bioturbation associated with the woodland plantations that have been present in the area for some time. Several still contained the remains of tree stumps. A number of probable planting holes were also recorded.
The single ditch recorded was a north-west to south-east aligned feature that corresponds with a former boundary depicted on the Ordnance Survey First Edition Six-inch map (S2).
The only other unstratified find of note was a fragment of undatable iron slag.
See report (S3) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2021.110).
P. Watkins (HES), 8 October 2024.