Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Location

Full description

15 July 1982. Cropmarks.
Course of old road as shown on (S1) passing north of church site (NHER 8648) before straightening on present course to north. Shown on Enclosure Map 1842 (S2) as continuing east to Filby Lane but marked as 'stopped up'.
E. Rose (NAU) 28 June 1985.

Area extended to include cropmarks of old fields and enclosures each side of road at eastern end of above cropmarks seen on CUCAP AP (S3-S5) taken 29 June 1976.
E. Rose (NAU) 9 January 1987.

October 1991. Detector find.
French/German jetton ?16th century. Obv. Shield within quatrefoil. Rev ?lozenge with four lys. Very worn.
D. Gurney (NAU), 7 October 1991.

1996. Metal detecting finds.
Medieval strap end made of 3 sheets of copper alloy rivetted together, once at lobed terminal and once halfway down length. Third rivet at far end to hold strap. Top sheet has ring-and-dot ornament irregularly applied. 14th century.
Lead personal seal matrix, pointed oval shape, with top point broken off. Design of 8-point star with legend around
* MAB ' LIEI ' LI ' (?). Polaroid NCM.
Identified by H. Geake (A&E) 31 October 1996.

1996. Metal detecting finds.
Roman coin. See list in file.
Medieval animal head terminal with moulded neck, lentoid eyes and upturned snout. Circular hole runs through head from neck to snout and metal has worn through to this hole on the top of the nose. Medieval. Function uncertain - possibly a terminal?
Identified by H. Geake (A&E).
V. Fryer (NCM) 20 June 1997.

October 2005. Norfolk NMP.
Cropmarks of roads and enclosures relating to the medieval to early post medieval settlement of Ormesby are visible as cropmarks (S3-S9). The central grid reference for these cropmarks has been amended from [1] to reflect their full mapped extent. These cropmarks are visible to the west and north of the site of St Peter’s church (NHER 8648).

The Ormesby St Margaret tithe map (S10) shows the road approaching the village from the west (now Cromer Road) splitting into two at approximately [2] rather than continuing eastwards on its present course. The northern arm of this road is visible as a negative cropmark extending from [3]. The southern road is visible as a curving negative cropmark between [4]. The position of both ends of this cropmark corresponds to the line of the road shown on the tithe map. However, the road on the map is depicted on a much straighter course than the cropmarks indicate. It is possible that the cropmarks represent an earlier course of the road than the one depicted on the tithe map in the mid-19th century. The cropmark of the metalled surface of the road is partly flanked by ditches. No cropmarks showing the straighter route shown on the tithe map were visible on the aerial photographs. Both of these roads are likely to be medieval in origin. The modern line of Cromer Road has also been altered from its straight late 19th century course during the construction of the Ormesby bypass. A narrow ditch defined path or lane extends to the north and northwest of the southern road from [5]. This heads north and northwest for 33m to [6] before bifurcating. Each branch of the track continues to the north and northwest of this point for a further 30m. Elsewhere within this cropmark complex other parallel linear ditches may also represent lanes. A possible lane on a roughly southwest to northeast alignment is present to the east of St Peter’s church between [7]. At its southern end it may join a wider roughly west to east aligned lane that extends from [8]. A further roughly west to east aligned path or track is present in the west of the group between [9].

Located around the cropmarks of the two roads are incomplete rectilinear enclosures and linear ditches. These enclosures are mainly aligned roughly southwest to northeast, on an alignment perpendicular to St Peter’s church (NHER 8648). The pattern of these enclosures also seems to correspond partly to the field boundaries shown on the tithe map suggesting a medieval to post medieval date. However, some of the ditches and enclosures appear to cross or be cut by the southern road cropmark, confirming the complex development already shown by the movement of the roads within this part of the settlement.

To the south of the road around [10] are a group of ten narrow rectilinear enclosures on a southwest to northeast alignment. None of the enclosures are complete but they seem to measure between 7m and 23m in width and up to 52m in length. Although some seem to extend all the way to a northwest to southeast boundary that runs from [11], other are sub-divided across their length. They are arranged end on to the road and probably represent messuage plots of medieval to early post medieval date. Several large pits, possibly for clay extraction, are located within these enclosures. To the south and west of these plots are large rectangular enclosures, probably representing fields. The incomplete and multi-phase nature of the cropmarks means that the dimensions of none of these can be clearly defined. However, some fields centred on [12] measure between 22m and 65m by at least 58m in length. Further to the west a linear ditch, on the same alignment as these enclosures and the post medieval field pattern, extends from [13]. This ditch crosses the ring ditch of a probable Bronze Age round barrow (NHER 18341). The fact that the ditch is visible as a cropmark across the whole of the ring ditch suggests that any barrow mound that may originally have been present had been levelled by the time that this boundary was laid out. A broad L-shaped ditch defines another possible enclosure to the southwest of the southern road. The ditch is up to 3m wide and extends for 60m north and east from [14].

Further enclosures are present to the north of the southern road. A small D-shaped enclosure, which measures 23m long by 10m wide, lies directly on its north side at [15]. It is overlain by a trapezoidal enclosure that measures up to 37m by 27m. To its north and west are sub-rectangular and curvilinear enclosures ranging in size from 17m by 20m to 47m by 22m. A rectangular enclosure measuring 34m by 27m is located on the eastern side of the cropmark complex at [16]. A number of small pits are present in and around this enclosure and it is crossed by ditches that represent different phases or periods of activity. To the north of the modern line of Cromer Road are further rectangular enclosures of probable medieval to post medieval date. The most complete of these is centred on [17] and measures 77m by 44m.

The majority of the enclosures and ditches visible as cropmarks clearly relate to the medieval to post medieval settlement that was located around St Peter’s church. However, other ditches in the north and west of the cropmark complex are present on a range of different alignments. Artefacts of Roman date (NHER 24047) have been found in the vicinity of these cropmarks and it is possible that some of the ditches could also belong to that period.
J. Albone (NMP), 13 October 2005.

August 2014. Geophysical Survey.
A magnetometer survey of this field identified numerous potentially archaeologically-significant anomalies, many of which clearly correspond with recorded cropmarks. These included anomalies likely to represent surviving remains associated with the former road and a number of the adjacent enclosure/fields. The most prominent of the latter was an 'L'-shaped linear anomaly associated with the probable enclosure to the south-west of the road at [18]. The enclosed area contained many potentially archaeologically-significant discrete anomalies and clusters of similar responses were also identified elsewhere in the vicinity of the road - increasing the likelihood that these remains represent an area of former settlement adjacent to the church.
See report (S11) and NHER 64678 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 March 2021.

Monument Types

• D SHAPED ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
• DITCH (Unknown date)
• ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
• EXTRACTIVE PIT (Unknown date)
• FIELD (Unknown date)
• FIELD BOUNDARY (Unknown date)
• PATH (Unknown date)
• PIT (Unknown date)
• RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
• ROAD (Unknown date)
• TRACKWAY (Unknown date)
• TRAPEZOIDAL ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
• DITCH? (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• D SHAPED ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• DITCH (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• EXTRACTIVE PIT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• FIELD (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• FIELD BOUNDARY (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• MESSUAGE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• PATH (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• PIT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• ROAD (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• SETTLEMENT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• TRACKWAY (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• TRAPEZOIDAL ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

• COIN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FIGURINE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• SEAL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• STRAP FITTING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• TOKEN (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status

• SHINE

Sources and further reading

Related records - none

Find out more...

• Parish Summary: Ormesby St Margaret with Scratby (Parish Summary)