Record Details

NHER Number:5865
Type of record:Monument
Name:Late Saxon road, ditches and pits, School Plain

Summary

In 1939 trenches here cut across number of pits and bank containing Late Saxon pottery. Later, in 1959, trenches dug for water mains uncovered a flint road and further pottery sherds also of Saxon date. The western half of this site now falls within the enlarged scheduled area of NHER 5749.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TL 8660 8301
Map Sheet:TL88SE
Parish:THETFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

1938. School Plain (north side).
ARP trenches cut across a number of pits and banks containing Late Saxon pottery.
Seen by R. R. Clarke (NCM) October 29 1938.
Information from H.T. Green.

There are twelve fragments of Late Saxon pottery in Thetford Museum from Brandon Road (from this site), probably from this find (above) in 1938.
R. R. Clarke (NCM).

1959. School Plain alongside Brandon Road by cottages near junction with London Road. Trenches for water mains.
From two small trenches on School Plain
(a) A flint road at 2ft running northeast and southwest with I suppose early 11th century pottery; and
(b) a little further west a clutch of pottery from 5ft (possibly the start of a pit) which looked a good deal earlier, say first half of 10th. One almost complete cooking pot very much twisted and distorted but not I think a waster as it was sooted from use. Probably a distortion from exposure to heat later on. It was very friable and I should say ill-baked in the first place.'
Information from G.M. Knocker.
Late Saxon pottery sherds held by NCM.
See (S3) for further details.
R. R. Clarke (NCM).

See also NHER 5749 for further Late Saxon occupation debris in the area immediately to the west, discovered during excavations at the Priory of the Holy Sepulchre in 1969.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 21 August 2008.

The western half of this site now falls within the enlarged scheduled area of NHER 5749.
E. Rose (NLA), 19 September 1996.

See (S1) for a discussion of Late Saxon roads in Thetford.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 21 August 2008.

See NHER 5749 for further Late Saxon occupation debris in the area immediately to the west, discovered during excavations at the Priory of the Holy Sepulchre in 1969.
See (S2) for further information.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 21 August 2008.

Monument Types

  • BANK (EARTHWORK) (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • COBBLED ROAD (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Late Saxon to Medieval - 851 AD to 1539 AD)
  • PIT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • ROAD (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • SETTLEMENT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)

Associated Finds

  • POT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • POT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Protected Status

  • Scheduled Monument

Sources and further reading

---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TL 88 SE 33 [2].
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Serial: 1959. Council for British Archaeology Group 7 Bulletin of Archaeological Discoveries for 1959. No. 6. p 5.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Late Saxon. Thetford [2].
<S1>Monograph: Andrews, P.. 1995. Excavations at Redcastle Furze, Thetford 1988-9.. East Anglian Archaeology. Vol 72. p 57.
<S2>Article in Serial: Hare, J. N. 1979. The Priory of the Holy Sepulchre, Thetford. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XXXVIIPt II pp 190-200.
<S3>Article in Serial: Wilson, D. M. and Hurst, D. G. 1961. Medieval Britain in 1959. Medieval Archaeology. Vol IV (for 1960) pp 134-165. p 136.

Related records

5749Related to: Ruins of the Priory of the Holy Sepulchre, Late Saxon occupation debris and possible site of Late Saxon or early medieval church (Monument)

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