Record Details

NHER Number:40367
Type of record:Monument
Name:Multi-period site beside the River Wensum, former Start-Rite Factory

Summary

An evaluation and watching brief in 2004 revealed a sequence of deposits dating from the Late Neolithic to the post medieval period. The earliest evidence from the site was a Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age pit cut into the fluvial river sand and containing some pieces of worked flint. By the 11th to 14th centuries large-scale dumping of dredged deposits had occurred across the site. There is also evidence to indicate local industries such as iron smelting and animal slaughtering and skinning are taking place nearby, with waste products being dumped in the area. Hornworking appears to have been carried out on the site. A significant phase of ground build-up occurred in the 15th to 16th centuries, and this is truncated by post medieval features such as waste pits and the foundations for a boundary wall. The remains of 18th and 19th century cellars from cottages built along the river frontage are cut by factory buildings constructed here in the later 19th century.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 22953 08919
Map Sheet:TG20NW
Parish:NORWICH, NORWICH, NORFOLK

Full description

April-May 2004. Watching Brief and Trial Trenching.
Initial monitoring during removal of overburden from site, followed by excavation of four evaluation trenches.
The earliest archaeological features on this site consisted of a Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age pit cut into the fluvial river sand. By the 11th to 14th centuries, large-scale dumping of dredged deposits had occurred across the site, perhaps as a result of planned reclamation of marginal land beside the river. Preserved timber elements strongly suggestive of a revetment or staithe constructed to protect the bank from erosion and to enable goods to be loaded and unloaded, were encountered near the modern river edge. There is evidence to suggest that local industries, including iron smelters, animal slaughterers, processors or skinners, dumped their waste on the site. It is also probable that hornworking occurred on or near the site.
A significant phase of ground buildup occurred during the 15th and 16th centuries, probably in an effort to reconstitute the marginal land. Several waste pits, a brick mortar culvert, and a foundation trench for a boundary wall, truncate this made-up ground.
During the 18th and 19th centuries cellars were built along the frontage of Duke Street, which were demolished and replaced by factory buildings in the later 19th century.
See report (S1) and (S2) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S3).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2011.271).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 6 March 2007. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 16 May 2019.

Monument Types

  • FINDSPOT (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
  • PIT (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
  • FINDSPOT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • LAND RECLAMATION (Late Saxon to Medieval - 1000 AD to 1399 AD)
  • CONDUIT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • HORN WORKING SITE (Medieval - 1200 AD to 1399 AD)
  • HORNCORE PIT (Medieval - 1200 AD to 1399 AD)
  • REVETMENT (Medieval - 1200 AD to 1399 AD)
  • RUBBISH PIT (Medieval - 1200 AD to 1399 AD)
  • BOUNDARY WALL? (Medieval to 17th Century - 1400 AD to 1699 AD)
  • PIT (Medieval to 16th Century - 1400 AD to 1599 AD)
  • RUBBISH PIT (Medieval to 16th Century - 1400 AD to 1599 AD)
  • POST HOLE (Medieval to 16th Century - 1450 AD to 1599 AD)
  • DRAIN (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • FLOOR (17th Century to 19th Century - 1700 AD to 1850 AD)
  • HEARTH (17th Century to 19th Century - 1700 AD to 1850 AD)
  • HOUSE (17th Century to 19th Century - 1700 AD to 1850 AD)
  • POST HOLE (17th Century to 19th Century - 1700 AD to 1899 AD)
  • RUBBISH PIT (17th Century to 19th Century - 1700 AD to 1899 AD)
  • CELLAR (18th Century to 19th Century - 1800 AD to 1899 AD)
  • FLOOR (18th Century to 19th Century - 1800 AD to 1899 AD)
  • SHOE FACTORY (18th Century to Late 20th Century - 1800 AD to 2000 AD?)

Associated Finds

  • LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
  • POT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • BRICK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • SHOE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • STAKE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • ANIMAL REMAINS (Medieval - 1200 AD to 1399 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Photograph: KQH.
---Photograph: 2004. KNY-KPA.
---Slide: Various. Slide.
<S1>Unpublished Contractor Report: Emery, G. 2004. An Archaeological Evaluation beside the River Wensum at the former Start-Rite factory site, Duke Street, Norwich. Interim Report. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 965.
<S2>Unpublished Contractor Report: Emery, G. 2004. An Archaeological Evaluation beside the River Wensum at the former Start-Rite factory site, Duke Street, Norwich, Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 973.
<S3>Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. 2005. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk in 2004. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLIV Pt IV pp 751-763. p 758.

Related records

Mon 1356Parent of: Colegate (from Duke Street to Water Lane) (Monument)
26525Related to: Multi-period finds and features at former Start-Rite shoe factory, Duke Street (Monument)

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