NHER 69251 (Monument record) - Potentially Roman, post-medieval and undated ditches

March 2023. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of site on route of proposed West Winch Housing Access Road (Section 8).
This survey identified nothing of potential archaeological interest.
Scattered discrete ferrous anomalies were probably caused by ferrous objects on or close to the surface (most likely modern debris).
See report (S1) for further details.
An archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2023.118).
P. Watkins (HES), 4 August 2025.

September 2023. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of potential impact of proposed West Winch Housing Access Road.
See report (S2) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 4 August 2025.

April-May 2025. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site on route of proposed West Winch Housing Access Road (Trenches 148-166).
The 19 trenches excavated at this location revealed a number of scattered ditches, many of which were undated. Possible exceptions included an adjoining pair of north-to-south and east-to-west aligned ditches close to the southern edge of the site, one of which produced two Roman pottery sherds. A small amount of Roman pottery was also found residual within a later feature in an adjacent trench. Several north-to-south aligned ditches with ceramic land drains at their bases correspond with former field boundaries depicted on the North Runcton tithe map (S3). Finds recovered from these features include fragments of animal bone and an unidentified copper alloy object of probable recent date. A perpendicular east-to-west aligned ditch at the southern edge of the site was probably of a similar age. This feature produced a range of finds, including post-medieval pottery sherds, medieval/post-medieval and post-medieval bricks fragments, a post-medieval pantile fragment and a buckle of 19th- or 20th-century date.
Two post-medieval pottery sherds were also recovered from a north-east to south-west aligned ditch.
The remaining, undated ditches displayed a range of alignments, suggesting they had probably been associated with more than one phase of activity.
Information from draft report. Final version awaited.
P. Watkins (HES), 4 August 2025.