NHER 69611 (Monument record) - Probable Early Saxon building, post-medieval or later ditch and undated pit

December 2022. Desk-based Assessment.
Heritage Assessment of proposed development site.
This site had been allotment gardens until 2008 and was unmanaged and heavily overgrown with scrub at the time of this study.
The Swaffham tithe map of 1840 shows a number of east-to-west aligned strips of agricultural land at this location which are recorded in the accompanying apportionment document as being parts of 'Mill Field' – which took its name from the windmill that had stood to the east (NHER 51009). These fields are probably remnants of an early, medieval strip-field system.
See report (S1) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 November 2025.

March 2024. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
The 18 trenches revealed only a small number of archaeologically-significant features, by far the most notable of which was a probable Early Saxon sunken-feature building ('grubenhaus'). This consisted of a reasonably large (3.6m by 2.09m) but relatively shallow, flat-based, elongated feature that was found to contain three post-holes. Finds recovered included an Early Saxon copper alloy spangle, pottery sherds likely to be of a similar date (one recovered from a post-hole) and fragments of animal bone.
The small number of other features recorded included a north-to-south aligned ditch containing 19th-century glass and an undated small pit. A number of other pits are thought to have been modern features associated with the site's recent use as allotments.
Unstratified finds were limited to a small amount of what is potentially prehistoric pottery.
Information from interim report (S2). Full report to follow upon completion of specialist work.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 November 2025.