Record Details
| NHER Number: | 23205 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Iron Age and Roman pot boiler sites in two fields southwest of Tower Mill |
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Summary
Two pot boiler sites were recorded during fieldwalking. A fragment of Iron Age pottery was found on one site, and Roman pottery was recovered from the other site which has been interpreted as the location of some kind of industrial activity. Fieldwalking also recovered worked flints dating from the Beaker period and fragments of medieval pottery.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TF 6617 1430 |
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| Map Sheet: | TF61SE |
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| Parish: | MIDDLETON, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
24 December 1986. Fenland fieldwalking, weathered ploughsoil.
Context 1. MDT AK.
General scatter odd flints and sherds, ?Roman.
Flint is Beaker - F. Healy (NAU).
Context 2 at 6625 1415. MDT 7.
Concentration of pot boilers moderate to abundant, one undated sherd. Soil loam with carstone fragments just above peat. 26m east to west x 24m north to south at 3.7m OD.
Sherd is Iron Age - F. Healy (NAU).
Context 3 at 6609 1431. MDT 8.
Concentration of pot boilers sparse locally to moderate and a few sherds probably Roman. Also some ?iron slag and couple flints. Edge of shallow valley. 45m northeast to southwest x 21m northwest to southeast at 4.3m OD.
R. Silvester (NAU), 29 December 1986
Some of the material from context 1 has been reidentified as Roman and medieval pottery.
For full details of wares, flint types etc see (S1).
1989 to 1990. Fenland Evaluation Project.
Further work at Contexts 2 (MDT 7) and 3 (MDT 8).
Accuracy of original site location plots checked; samples of subsoil taken by auger for analysis - shown to be watelogged silt, possibly with botanical preservation. Sites not well preserved (not peat covered) Not recommended for preservation to Historic Buildings and Monuments Commision.
M. Leah (NLA), August 1990.
October 2007. ALSF NHER Enhancement Sub-Unit D.
MDT 7.
Iron Age activity might be anticipated on the basis of a single sherd of pottery found on a pot boiler site at the peat edge; more associated material is required from the site to confirm the dating, but with a Roman pot-boiler spread a short distance away (MDT 8) and the absence of any other Iron Age sherds in the vicinity, the assessment is reasonable.
MDT 8.
This pot-boiler spread produced enough Roman pottery mixed with the calcined flint and ash to leave no doubt to its date, even if its function is unclear. It was positioned on the edge of a small dry valley running towards Blackborough End that was filling with peat in the medieval period and may have become waterlogged even earlier, so industrial activity of some sort must be suspected. The associated Roman settlement seems to have been beneath the modern settlement of Blackborough End.
Information from (S2).
M. Dennis (NLA), 1 October 2007.
Monument Types
- FINDSPOT (Prehistoric - 1000000 BC to 42 AD)
- FINDSPOT (Beaker - 2300 BC to 1700 BC)
- BURNT MOUND? (Iron Age - 800 BC? to 42 AD?)
- FINDSPOT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- BURNT MOUND? (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
- FINDSPOT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- INDUSTRIAL SITE? (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
- FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
Associated Finds
- METAL WORKING DEBRIS (Undated)
- POT BOILER (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
- LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Beaker - 2300 BC to 1700 BC)
- POT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| --- | *Fieldwork: Fenland Survey. MDT 7. FENS. |
| --- | *Fieldwork: Fenland Survey. MDT 8. FENS. |
| --- | *Fieldwork: Fenland Survey. MDT AK. FENS. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| <S1> | Archive: Fenland Folders. |
| <S2> | Monograph: Silvester, R. J. 1988. The Fenland Project Number 3: Marshland and Nar Valley, Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 45. p 128. |
Related records - none
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