Record Details
| NHER Number: | 12834 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Probable Iron Age defended settlement and multi-period finds |
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Summary
The cropmark of a ring ditch was noted on an aerial photograph in 1977. Partial excavation of the feature in advance of road construction in 1981 recovered Neolithic flint tools and fragments of Iron Age pottery, and site was interpreted as an Iron Age defended settlement. Further excavation in 2001 revealed a pit containing Neolithic flintwork and pottery, a Bronze Age urn containing cremated bone and a Bronze Age hearth. Roman coins, pottery fragments and a brooch were found in the upper fill of the ring ditch.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TM 1079 7973 |
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| Map Sheet: | TM17NW |
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| Parish: | ROYDON (NEAR DISS), SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
Cropmark of ring ditch.
Located by E. Rose (NAU), 14 September 1977.
(S1) shows wind mill on approximately this site.
The mill was variously known as Tottington Mill, Denmark Green Mill and Cock Street Green Mill throughout its life; it was a post mill demolished in 1883. Information from [1].
E. Rose (NAU), 23 March 1982.
The mill probably did not stand on the ring ditch but just to its south where there is a rise.
A. Lawson (NAU), 23 March 1982.
December 1981. Partial excavation of circular cropmark in advance of road construction.
Ring ditch about 28m in diameter. Mechanical trenches cut through ditch, and interior stripped. Broad shallow ditch 6m wide 90cm deep, cut into gravel.
Base contained dark band of sand contained pottery (S6, S7 and S8) and flint tools.
Date of pot within Iron Age yet to be assessed.
Probably defended settlement or hut platform, probably 6th century BC.
See file for further details. Press cutting (S2) in file.
A. Lawson (NAU), 17 August 1982.
July-August 2001. Excavation.
Further excavation examined a post-medieval ditch, Neolithic pit with flints and pottery, a Bronze Age inverted collared urn with cremated bone, a Beaker hearth and the ring ditch. The upper fill of the last contained Roman pottery, coins and a brooch.
See report (S3) for further details. The results of this work are summarised in (S4).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2013.76).
D. Gurney (NLA), 5 March 2002. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 16 May 2019.
2002. Excavation.
A west extension of the 2001 excavation area failed to establish any source for the Roman pottery found in the upper silting of the west side of the ring-ditch. Further sectioning of the ring-ditch confirmed the apparently deliberate infilling of the lower half of the ditch with a pale greyish-white sandy gravel shortly after construction.
The results of this work are summarised in (S5).
D. Holburn (HES), 14 October 2011.
Monument Types
- PIT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
- CREMATION (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- HEARTH (Beaker - 2300 BC to 1700 BC)
- FORTIFICATION (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- PIT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- RING DITCH (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- ROUND HOUSE (DOMESTIC) (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- SITE (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- DITCH (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
- WINDMILL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
Associated Finds
- LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
- POT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
- HUMAN REMAINS (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- POT (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- POT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- POT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- BROOCH (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- COIN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- POT (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| --- | Aerial Photograph: TM 1079A,B, TM 1079C-E. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| --- | Thesis: Garrow, D.. 2006. Pits, Settlement and Deposition during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in East Anglia.
during the Neolithic and Early
Pits, Settlement and Deposition during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in East Anglia. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| --- | Slide: Various. Slide. |
| <S1> | Publication: Faden, W. and Barringer, J. C. 1989. Faden's Map of Norfolk in 1797. |
| <S2> | Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1982. Race against time on Diss dig. 6 January. |
| <S3> | Publication: Robins, R.. 2002. The Quarterly. 45. pp 18-21. |
| <S4> | Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. (eds). 2002. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk, 2001. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLIV Pt I pp 162-177. p 174. |
| <S5> | Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. (eds). 2003. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk, 2002. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLIV Pt II pp 368-384. p 379. |
| <S6> | Illustration: Unknown. Unknown. Drawing of an Iron Age pottery shard.. Paper. Unknown. |
| <S7> | Illustration: Unknown. Unknown. Drawing of an Iron Age pottery shard.. Paper. Unknown. |
| <S8> | Illustration: Unknown. Unknown. Drawing of an Iron Age pottery shard.. Paper. Unknown. |
Related records - none
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