Record Details

NHER Number:50547
Type of record:Monument
Name:Possible site of St Edmund's Church, Late Saxon occupation and inhumations, and undated finds

Summary

Excavations in the northwest corner of the Old Gasworks in 1957 recorded massive flint foundations believed to represent the remains of St. Edmund's church as well as evidence of Late Saxon occupation and iron smelting, including five burials. A watching brief in 2007 recorded further human remains thought to date from the Late Saxon or medieval period. Other finds from these observations included undated metalworking debris, animal bone, oyster shell and two Late Saxon pottery sherds.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TL 86893 82511
Map Sheet:TL88SE
Parish:THETFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

1957. Excavation.
Excavations conducted in the gasworks compound revealed evidence of Late Saxon occupation and iron smelting. Finds include potsherds, a lead object, and five inhumations. Flint foundations of a wall running east-west with two crosswalls running north were also encountered. These foundations appeared to be later than the burials and are believed to represent the north and east walls of a tower nave and a fragment of the north wall of the chancel of St. Edmund's Church.
See published report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2) and (S3).
Previously recorded under NHER 5868.
H. Hamilton (NLA), 31 January 2008.

August 2007. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of test pits excavated as part of environmental assessment.
Finds recovered during the watching brief included two rim sherds of Late Saxon Thetford Ware, a small quantity of animal bone and oyster shell, small quantities of metalworking debris and a small amount of human bone. The human remains appear to be from an in situ burial and likely date from the late 10th or early 11th century (or perhaps later) as a single sherd of Thetford ware was recovered from the same context. This burial may be associated with an early medieval cemetery belonging to the Church of St Edmund (NHER 5868) which is thought to be located on the site of the former gasworks immediately to the south and east of this site.
See report (S4) for further details.
See also (S5).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 27 November 2007.

January-February 2009. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of landscaping works in garden of 113 Bury Road.
Details awaited.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2011.103).
P. Watkins (HES), 12 May 2019.

Monument Types

  • PIT (Unknown date)
  • FINDSPOT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Late Saxon to Medieval - 851 AD to 1539 AD)
  • IRON WORKING SITE (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • PIT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • ROUND HOUSE (DOMESTIC) (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • INHUMATION (Late Saxon to Medieval - 950 AD? to 1539 AD?)
  • CHURCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Associated Finds

  • ANIMAL REMAINS (Unknown date)
  • METAL WORKING DEBRIS (Unknown date)
  • OYSTER SHELL (Unknown date)
  • SLAG (Unknown date)
  • HUMAN REMAINS (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • HUMAN REMAINS (Late Saxon to Medieval - 851 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Serial: 1957. Council for British Archaeology Group 7 Bulletin of Archaeological Discoveries. No 4. p 4.
---Slide: Vairous. 2007. Slide1-144, Former Gas Works, Bury Road, Thetford.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Late Saxon. Thetford.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Collection: Norfolk Historic Environment Record Staff. 1975-[2000]. HER Record Notes. Norfolk Historic Environment Service.
<S1>Monograph: Rogerson, A. and Dallas, C. 1984. Excavations in Thetford 1948-59 and 1973-80. East Anglian Archaeology. No 22. pp 50-52.
<S2>Article in Serial: Wilson, D. M. and Hurst, D. G. 1959. Medieval Britain in 1957. Medieval Archaeology. Vol II (for 1958) pp 183-213. p 188.
<S3>Article in Serial: 1958. Other Archaeological Excavations 1957. Norfolk Research Committee Bulletin. Series 1 No 10 (for 1957) pp 1-2. p 1.
<S4>Unpublished Contractor Report: Upson-Smith, T. 2007. An Archaeological Watching Brief at 113 Bury Road, Thetford, Norfolk. Northamptonshire Archaeology. 07/130.
<S5>Photograph: NAU Archaeology. 2008. MLS-MNC.

Related records

5868Related to: Possible site of St Edmund's Church (Monument)

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