Record Details

NHER Number:9877
Type of record:Monument
Name:Arminghall deserted medieval village

Summary

The earthworks of the former medieval settlement of Arminghall, including house platforms, tofts, ridge and furrow and sunken roads and hollow ways, are recorded from a combination of field survey and aerial photographic interpretation. The village is situated adjacent to the medieval settlement of Bixley (NHER 9660) and to a further area of former settlement to the west, in the area of Arminghall Manor (NHER 52475).

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 253 048
Map Sheet:TG20SE
Parish:BIXLEY, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

1955. Aerial photographs.
Earthworks revealed by St Joseph's aerial photographs. (S1).

1977. Visit. Under pasture amidst large trees of old parkland of hall.
Undulations visible, including banks and old ?ponds.
E. Rose (NAU), 1977.

27 May 1977. NAU air photographs.
Earthworks of hollow way and possible large moat etcetera adjacent to the site of Arminghall Hall.
See overlay for area TG2504 at 1:2500 scale and overlay for NAU NHER Record Map.
(S2).
D. A. Edwards (NAU), 18 January 1980.

April 1989. Found when walking on footpath across site.
Medieval copper alloy cast belt chape, see Fingerlin catalogue number 239 from Abingdon, now in British Museum. Half moon shaped belt chape with decorated terminal and engraved leaf motif, fragment of back plate survives. First half 15th century.
Large 16th century buckle.
S. Margeson (NCM), 28 April 1989.

1996. Earthwork Survey.
Survey at 1:1000, incorporating NHER 6098. This shows that part of the site lay east of the former parish boundary between Arminghall and Bixley, and thus is probably more than just Arminghall deserted village.
See report (S5). This site was included in (S10) and the survey is also noted in (S20).
B. Cushion and E. Rose (NLA), November 1996. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 6 March 2015.

Under good pasture, small part ploughed. Occupier has undertaken scrub cutting, this will assist control of rabbits, which are causing damage to the earthworks.
H. Paterson (A&E), 15 April 1997.

(S3) Management Agreement signed 16 March 1997 (5 years). (Scheduled 1998. See (S4) in file)
H. Paterson (A&E), 14 September 1999.

November 2000. Visit.
Good grass cover, minimal poaching and mole disturbance. No rabbit disturbance.
H. Paterson (A&E), 30 November 2000.

September 2001. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of three pole replacements for Trowse to Alpington overhead cable rebuild.
Negative results.
See report (S6) for further details.
J. Allen (NLA), 28 January 2002.

January 2002. Visit.
Good grass cover over major part of site. Fairly severe poaching on area to west This on area previously ploughed and outside provisions of (S3). Electric fence is moved frequently to prevent poaching. Stocking levels are low. Tenant is to investigate possiblity of stewardship.
H. Paterson (A&E), 16 January 2002.

24 October 2008.
Scheduled momument consent granted for the replacement of the pumping station and sewer runs.
See (S7) for further information
H. White (NLA) 7 January 2008

November 2008-May 2009. Excavation and Watching Brief.
An archaeological mitigation strategy was conducted for Fenland Hydrotech Ltd ahead of the replacement of a sewer and installation of a new pumping station and associated new sewer pipes. The work was undertaken in the area of a Scheduled Monument protecting the site of a shrunken medieval and post-medieval village. In the course of this work a number of sections were excavated across ditches: five corresponded to known banks (S5) and three additional ditches running along the same alignment were also identified, suggesting that some land divisions had not survived as earthworks. Most of the features identified appear to have been filled in during the post-medieval period.
See reports (S8) and (S18) for further details. See also (S9). The results of this work are summarised in (S19).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2016.174).
D. Holburn (HES), 13 September 2011. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 6 March 2015 and 21 June 2019.

The central grid reference for this site has been altered from TG 254 045 to TG 2543 0464 due to the extension of the site to the north, west and east.

November 2009. Norfolk NMP.
The earthworks of the former medieval settlement of Arminghall are visible on aerial photographs (S11-S16). The village is situated to the adjacent medieval settlement of Bixley (NHER 9660) and a further area of former settlement to the west, in the area of Arminghall Manor (NHER 52475). The central grid reference for this site has been altered from TG 254 045 to TG 2543 0464 due to the extension of the site to the north, west and east. The earthworks mapped on the whole are broadly consistent with the detailed 1:10,000 field survey and interpretation undertaken by Brian Cushion (S5, S10) and in few instances the historical aerial photographs have allowed for now plough-levelled or developed sites to the be recorded. This record will concentrate on the additions that the NMP mapping has added to the site, rather than repeat the descriptions and interpretations given within the survey report.

Documents researched indicate an early enclosed landscape, with a complex and changeable road network (S10). The road that is preserved as a sunken hollow, apparently referred to as ‘Dead Man’s Lane’ on an eighteenth century map (S5). towards the northern extent of the earthworks can be seen to continue to the north as a cropmark, from TG 2543 0485 to TG 2538 0537 (S16). This trackway or road follows the line of the former parish boundary between Bixley and Arminghall and terminates, as is visible, at the Valley Belt. It is possible that this route represents the predecessor of the Bungay Road to the immediate east, which clearly cuts across many land parcels in Bixley assumed to be medieval in origin (S17), although it has been interpreted as procession way by Cushion and Davison (S10). The southeastern section of sunken road, which appears to in part underlie the present Bungay Road, has been suggested as an earlier alignment of this Norwich to Bungay route (S10). It is feasible that this linked up with Dead Mans Lane and continued along the parish boundary. The earthworks would indicate an intersection of the two stretches of roads in the area of the present location of Meadow Cottages, certainly the two sunken roads look reasonably comparable on the aerial photographs. To the east of this road the western end of the curving hollow way that joins the Arminghall and Bixley medieval settlements (NHER 9660) has been included within this site.

Consultation of the historic photography allowed for the line of tofts identified on the ground at TG 2539 0427, were extended to the west into an area now developed into housing. To the immediate north of this curving toft boundary an area of ridge and furrow was visible as low earthworks, one at TG 2538 0436, visible in winter shadow in January 1946 (S12). Another smaller possible area was identified to the north of the Old Hall at TG 2524 0453, visible in low light and snow in February 1946 (S13). To the east of these two small possible building platforms were mapped in the area of TG 2532 0450.
S. Horlock (NMP), 04 November 2009.

Monument Types

  • DITCH (Unknown date)
  • GULLY (Unknown date)
  • FINDSPOT (Prehistoric - 1000000 BC to 42 AD)
  • BANK (EARTHWORK) (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • BUILDING PLATFORM (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • CAUSEWAY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • DESERTED SETTLEMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • DITCH (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • GULLY (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD? to 1900 AD?)
  • HOLLOW WAY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • HOUSE PLATFORM (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POND (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • RIDGE AND FURROW (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • ROAD (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • ROAD (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • TOFT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

  • LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
  • BUCKLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • COIN (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • STRAP FITTING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • BRICK (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • BUCKLE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • COIN (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • CROTAL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • POT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • TILE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status

  • SHINE
  • Management Statement
  • Scheduled Monument

Sources and further reading

---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Photograph: NAU Archaeology. 2008. MVE-MVG.
---Slide: Various. 2008. Slides 1-32, Arminghall Pumping Station..
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Medieval. Bixley.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Slide: Various. Slide. 1-.
---Designation: English Heritage. 1990-2013. English Heritage Scheduling Notification. Notification. DNF300.
---Designation: English Heritage. 1994? -2011?. English Heritage Digital Designation Record. Record. DNF300.
<S1>Aerial Photograph: St. Joseph. 1955. TG2504A.
<S2>Aerial Photograph: TG2504 J-K,AN,AP.
<S3>Unpublished Document: H. Paterson (A&E), MPP. Section 17 Management Agreement.
<S5>Unpublished Report: Cushion, B. 1996. Bixley (Arminghall) SMR 6098 and 9877. Earthwork Survey Report.
<S6>Unpublished Contractor Report: Underdown, S. 2001. Report on an Archaeological Watching Brief at Trowse-Alpington Overhead Line Rebuild, Arminghall DMV, Bixley. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 675.
<S7>Designation: DCMS. [?]-2016. Scheduled Monument Consent. SAM Consent. DNF300.
<S8>Unpublished Contractor Report: Bates, S. 2009. A Brief Assessment of the Results of the Archaeological Excavation and Monitoring at Arminghall Pumping Station, Norfolk. NAU Archaeology. 1406a.
<S9>Photograph: Bates, S.. 2008. MZP.
<S10>Monograph: Cushion, B. and Davison, A. 2003. Earthworks of Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 104. p 13.
<S11>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1945. RAF 106G/UK/776 6156-7 07-SEP-1945 (NMR).
<S12>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1945. RAF 106G/UK/776 6156-7 07-SEP-1945 (NMR).
<S13>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 3G/TUD/UK/70 5306-7 28-FEB-1946 (NMR).
<S14>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1956. RAF 540/1778 (F22) 0110-1 16-JAN-1956 (NMR).
<S15>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Meridian Airmaps Limited. 1965. MAL/65101 098-9 30-DEC-1965 (NMR).
<S16>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1996. OS/96247 238-9 22-JUL-1996 (NMR).
<S17>Map: 1805. Framingham Earl with Bixley.
<S18>Unpublished Contractor Report: Bates, S. and Percival, S. 2010. Archaeological Mitigation and Monitoring at Arminghall Pumping Station, Norfolk. NAU Archaeology. 1406b.
<S19>Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Hoggett, R. 2010. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk in 2009. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLVI Pt I pp 135-147. p 135.
<S20>Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. (eds). 1997. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 1996. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLII Pt IV pp 547-564. p 548.

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