NHER 1661 (Monument record) - Roman villa and Iron Age gold coin hoard, Fring, Sedgeford and Shernborne

1790 to 1800.
Tessellated pavement found.

1954 to 1957.
Roman surface finds; coins, tile, etc.

1984.
Cropmarks recorded.

1990. Metal detecting.
Iron Age, Roman, Middle Saxon, Early Saxon brooches. See drawing (S1).

1991.
Iron Age coin hoard found.

1992 to 1993.
Roman querns found.

See full details in file.
E. Rose (NLA), 6 August 1993.

May 2006. Norfolk NMP.
An extensive multi-phase cropmark complex relating to an Iron Age to Roman settlement and possible Roman villa or religious site is visible on aerial photographs (S2-S5). The boundary of the site has been extended to include additional associated cropmarks.

The main Roman element of the site is a large double ditched rectangular enclosure that is cut by a modern road and is not completely visible as a cropmark. It lies on a west-northwest to east-southeast alignment and has external dimensions of 98m wide by at least 462m long. The 3m wide outer ditch and 1m wide inner ditch are spaced 7m apart. Several short sections of linear ditch cropmark within the enclosure may relate to internal subdivisions. However, no distinct internal features or structures can be determined. This is partly due to the central part of the enclosure lying over an area of different geology or soil that is not conducive to cropmark formation. Rectilinear double ditched enclosures of this type are characteristic of many Roman sites and are often associated with villas, as at the nearby site (NHER 1659). However, this enclosure is unusually long and may have had a different function. It is located along the base of a small, now dry, valley to the west of Peddars Way Roman road (NHER 1289). The alignment of the enclosure, like that of the nearby villa site (NHER 1659) appears to have been influenced by the topography rather than the presence of the Roman road. A possible blocked entrance is present on the northern side of the enclosure. Adjacent to this is single linear ditch cropmark that extends for approximately 430m to the north-northeast of the enclosure up to Peddars Way. The landscape setting and unusual shape of this enclosure mean that it could possibly have related to a religious complex rather than a villa.

The linear ditch to the north-northeast of the enclosure has a similar alignment to a group of linear ditch cropmarks that extend for up to 220m to its northeast and 440m to its southwest. They partly overlap the northern side of the enclosure and some are probably continuous right across it but are not visible as cropmarks in the area of different soil type in base of the valley. Two of the ditches are spaced 5m apart and have a very straight roughly southwest to northeast alignment. It is possible that they relate to a late prehistoric trackway that predates the Roman enclosure. The other ditches have an irregular and braided appearance and could relate to late prehistoric boundaries or incomplete trackways.

Partly overlain by and to the north of the Roman enclosure are a complex group of rectilinear enclosures. These may be associated with at least one phase of the trackways or linear boundaries. The most complete of the enclosures measure 65m by 63m and at least 77m by 50m. It is likely that they relate to an Iron Age settlement or farmstead that preceded the Roman site. A ring ditch of a possible round house with a diameter of 9m is present within one of the enclosures. Cropmarks of several other undated ring ditches and a curvilinear enclosure are present in the northern part of the group (NHER 49677) and two isolated curvilinear enclosures are located in the south (NHER 49675-6). It is not clear how these cropmarks relate to the Iron Age and Roman features at the site.
J. Albone (NMP), 1 June 2006.