NHER 69551 (Monument record) - Possible site of post-medieval or earlier ford

September 2013. Watching Brief.
Maintained during works undertaken as part of the River Nar Restoration Project (The Carr, east section).
The excavations at this location consisted largely of in-river excavations to create deeper pools and wider shelves, with the site visited after these works were complete. It was noted that the river bed consisted largely of gravel with a limey concretion present in three areas. This limey deposit was a natural accumulation, although at one point (c.TF 7747 1482) the river bed had been consolidated with various building materials, including ceramic building material, limestone blocks, large flints and faced building flints with mortar adhering. The limestone blocks and building flints may well have come from nearby West Acre Priory (NHER 3881) and it is possible this material had been dumped to create a fording point. Nothing is shown at this location on the available 19th-century maps but a ford at this location may had been associated with a routeway that once connected up with the north-north-west to south-south-east aligned section of Springlane Drove to the north (which has been present since at least the 19th century).
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 October 2025.