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Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Record Details

NHER Number:	31871
Type of record:	Monument
Name:	Prehistoric, post-medieval and undated features and multi-period finds

Summary

A trial trench evaluation undertaken prior to the construction of the new Norfolk and Norwich Hospital revealed a small number of archaeologically significant features. These included a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age pit containing Beaker pottery, a potentially prehistoric ditch and at least one post-medieval ditch. A number of undated pits and ditches were also excavated. Finds recovered from topsoil and other unstratified contexts included an assemblage of predominantly later prehistoric worked flints; possible Early Bronze Age Food Vessel sherds; Roman pottery sherds; medieval pottery, ceramic building material and metal objects and a range of post-medieval finds.

A subsequent Watching Brief identified no archaeologically significant features. Unstratified finds recovered included additional worked flints; Iron Age, medieval and post-medieval pottery sherds and a range of medieval to modern metal objects.

Aerial photographs taken of this area prior to its development were initially thought to show a range of potentially archaeological features, including a circular enclosure, a rectilinear enclosure and a linear alignment of pits. After further analysis of these images it was determined that most of these features were most likely geological, the only exceptions being several possible linear features.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:	TG 180 070
Map Sheet:	TG10NE
Parish:	COLNEY, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

July-August 1996. Trial Trench Evaluation.
Excavation of multiple trial trenches on site of new Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. The artefactual content of the topsoil was assessed by sieving samples of overburden collected at 20m intervals.
Relatively few archaeologically significant features were identified. These included a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age pit (containing Beaker pottery), a potentially prehistoric ditch (that produced Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery), a post-medieval ditch and a modern pit. Several undated ditches, undated pits and a number of natural features were also excavated.

255 worked flints were recovered, the majority from topsoil and other unstratified contexts. Most were unmodified flakes and shatter pieces. Finished tools and other diagnostic pieces were scarce, limited to:
7 undatable prehistoric (but probably Neolithic/Bronze Age) scrapers and 10 retouched flakes.
1 Mesolithic blade core and a small number of finely serrated blades.
3 Neolithic/Bronze Age scrapers.
17 Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age large and rough flakes (recovered from Beaker pit).

Other finds recovered (the majority from unstratified contexts) included:
?Early Bronze Age ?Food Vessel pottery sherds (joining rim sherds).
Roman pottery sherds.
Medieval pottery sherds, ceramic building material (including bricks, floor tile and roof tile), buckles and ?medieval lead pot mend.
Post-medieval and modern coins, pottery sherds, ceramic building material, window and vessel glass, clay tobacco pipes, buckles, buttons, harness fittings, and unidentifiable metal objects.
Undatable iron objects, slag, animal bone and shell.

See report (S1) for full details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2). The Beaker pit is amongst those discussed in (S6).
E. Rose (NLA), 2 September 1996. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 24 March 2014.

2 July 1996. NLA air photography.
Large circular enclosure to north of hospital site, slightly irregular. It is possible that it is a geological feature, as the background cropmarks are very busy. A series of linear features are visible, which appear to be part of a rectilinear enclosure. Also to the southern end of the site are a linear arrangement of pits, although again a geological origin cannot be dismissed.
S. Massey (NLA), 26 July 2001.

January/February 1998. Watching Brief.
Field observations during topsoil stripping prior to construction of hospital.
No archaeologically significant features observed. Finds recovered included:
1 ?Mesolithic/Early Neolithic long narrow flint flake and 2 small blades.
110 prehistoric flint flakes, 5 blades, 1 retouched blades, 1 utilised flake, 14 retouched flakes, 1 irregular core, 3 scrapers, 2 piercers, 1 'indeterminate flaked tool'. Probably Neolithic/Bronze Age?
1 Iron Age pottery sherd.
2 medieval pottery sherds.
18 post-medieval to modern pottery sherds.
Various medieval, post-medieval and modern metal objects.
See report (S3) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S4).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 24 March 2014.

July 2010. Norfolk NMP.
The majority of features visible on the aerial photographs (S3) were considered to be geological, only two linear features have been mapped as archaeology. These are aligned northeast-southwest and run from TG 1825 0731 to TG1810 0698. They are likely to be field boundaries or land division of some kind.
E. Bales (NMP), 20 July 2010.

Monument Types

CIRCULAR ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
DITCH (Unknown date)
FIELD BOUNDARY? (Unknown date)
LINEAR FEATURE (Unknown date)
PIT (Unknown date)
RECTILINEAR ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
FINDSPOT (Prehistoric - 1000000 BC to 42 AD)
FINDSPOT (Early Mesolithic to Early Neolithic - 10000 BC? to 3001 BC?)
FINDSPOT (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
FINDSPOT (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
FINDSPOT (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
DITCH (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
FIELD BOUNDARY (Bronze Age - 2350 BC? to 701 BC?)
FINDSPOT (Early Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 1501 BC)
PIT (Beaker - 2300 BC to 1700 BC)
FINDSPOT (Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age - 1000 BC? to 401 BC?)
DITCH (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
FINDSPOT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
FINDSPOT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
FINDSPOT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

METAL WORKING DEBRIS (Unknown date)
BLADE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
DEBITAGE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
FLAKE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
RETOUCHED FLAKE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
SCRAPER (TOOL) (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
BLADE (Early Mesolithic to Early Neolithic - 10000 BC? to 3001 BC?)
BLADE CORE (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
FLAKE (Early Mesolithic to Early Neolithic - 10000 BC? to 3001 BC?)
SERRATED BLADE (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
BLADE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC? to 701 BC?)
BORER (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC? to 701 BC?)
CORE? (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC? to 701 BC?)
FLAKE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC? to 701 BC?)
RETOUCHED BLADE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC? to 701 BC?)
RETOUCHED FLAKE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC? to 701 BC?)
SCRAPER (TOOL) (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
SCRAPER (TOOL) (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC? to 701 BC?)
FLAKE (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
POT (Early Bronze Age - 2350 BC? to 1501 BC?)
POT (Beaker - 2300 BC to 1700 BC)
POT (Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age - 1000 BC to 401 BC)
POT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
BOOK FITTING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
BRICK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
BUCKLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
BUCKLE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
POT MEND (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)
PURSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
ROOF TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
STRAP FITTING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
WEIGHT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
BUCKLE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
BUCKLE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
BUCKLE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
BUTTON (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
BUTTON (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
CLAY PIPE (SMOKING) (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
DISC (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
DRESS COMPONENT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
HARNESS (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
METAL WORKING DEBRIS (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
METAL WORKING DEBRIS (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
MUSKET BALL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
MUSKET BALL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
PERSONAL ORNAMENT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
PLAQUE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
PLUMB BOB (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
POT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
POT (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2050 AD)
SEAL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
STRAP FITTING (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
STUD (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
THIMBLE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
WEIGHT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---	Photograph: NAU. [unknown].
---	Secondary File: Secondary File.
---	Slide: Various. Slide.
---	Fiche: Exists.
<S1>	Unpublished Contractor Report: Ashwin, T. 1996. Norfolk and Norwich Hospital 2000, Colney. Report on Archaeological Evaluation, July-August 1996. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 182.
<S2>	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 550.
<S3>	Unpublished Contractor Report: Percival, S. 1998. Watching Brief at Hospital 2000, Colney. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 313.
<S4>	Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. (eds). 1999. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 1998. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLIII Pt II pp 369-387. p 371.
<S5>	Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TG 1706L; TG 1707C, E - F, K - L, R - S, AD; TG 1806A; TG 1807AF.
<S6>	Thesis: Garrow, D.. 2006. Pits, Settlement and Deposition during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in East Anglia. during the Neolithic and Early Pits, Settlement and Deposition during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in East Anglia.