Record Details
| NHER Number: | 3460 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Roman metal working debris and pottery sherds, Saxon and medieval pottery sherds |
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Summary
Roman pottery fragments found in association with concentrations of metal working debris indicate that this area was used for iron smelting at that time. Middle Saxon and medieval pottery fragments have also been recovered.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TF 6720 1181 |
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| Map Sheet: | TF61SE |
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| Parish: | WORMEGAY, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
1958. West and north of St. Michael's Church. Source [1] reports Roman sherds and iron slag (not seen by NCM). Thickest between Petticoat Lane and Church Wood (west of church) which is locally known as Foundry Field. Cropmarks here on NCM map (from Fairey?) could be natural.
Site visited by E. Rose (NAU) 15 July 1975. Foundry Field under corn, north area under potatoes; nothing visible on either. Source [1]'s own card dates pottery to the 3rd to 4th century, as context 1.
29 October 1982. Ironslag over almost all field; dense in places, particularly close to church and above peat. Few pottery sherds.
R. Silvester (NAU), 29 October 1982.
November 1982. Visited.
These are divided into four concentrations: context 2, at 6718 1184 (25m northwest to southeast by 6m, spread to southeast 15 to 20m); context 3 at 6729 1186 (20m northwest to southeast by 10m, spreading downhill); context 4 at 6718 1172 (20m southwest to northeast by 13m southeast to northwest) and context 5 at 6714 1177 (20m diameter; not much slag).
R. Silvester (NAU),19 November 1982.
Section north of church in 1983 was absorbed into county number NHER 19168.
R. Silvester (NAU) believes this plotting may have been a mistake anyway. Petticoat Drove, bounding site on west, is said by farmer to be composed solidly of 'cinders'. Is this Roman slag, or more recent clinker? Farmer says source [1] told him the Drove was an 'ancient Roman track'.
R. Silvester (NAU), May 1983.
1989-90. Further work carried out on these sites during the Fenland evaluation project. The work involved checking the location of the slag concentrations and obtaining samples from each.
A dossier has been prepared for HBMC. Copy in file for site NHER 17286.
M. D. Leah (NAU) August 1990.
Some of the material discovered by R.Silvester (NAU) at Context 1 has been reidentified as Middle Saxon and medieval pottery. E. Rose (NAU).
For full details of wares, flint types etc see Fenland Folders
Map by source [1] detailing 1996 fieldwalking of area has `iron slag and late Roman pottery' written across this field, but nothing mentioned in the text, which is filed under NHER 19168.
E. Rose (NLA), 9 February 1999
Monument Types
- SITE (Unknown date)
- SITE (Unknown date)
Associated Finds
- METAL WORKING DEBRIS (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- POT (Middle Saxon - 651 AD to 850 AD)
- POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| --- | *Fieldwork: Fenland Survey. WGY 1. FENS. |
| --- | *Fieldwork: Fenland Survey. WGY 2. FENS. |
| --- | *Fieldwork: Fenland Survey. WGY 3. FENS. |
| --- | *Fieldwork: Fenland Survey. WGY 4. FENS. |
| --- | *Fieldwork: Fenland Survey. WGY AK. FENS. |
| --- | Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TF 61 SE 24. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| --- | Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Roman. Wormegay. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
Related records
| 19168 | Related to: Possible Middle to Late Saxon settlement, prehistoric worked flints, Roman to post-medieval objects (Monument) |
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