Record Details

NHER Number:39833
Type of record:Monument
Name:Probable Roman field system, Middle Saxon charcoal-burning pits, medieval ditch and pits at Mayton Wood quarry

Summary

Excavations and field survey in advance of mineral extraction have revealed a complex multi-period site at this location. Neolithic to Bronze Age flint implements have been recovered from across the site. Roman remains comprise a ditched enclosure flanked by a routeway, and finds recovered from these features include Samian pottery. In the Middle Saxon period there is likely to have been woodland nearby, as the site is pockmarked by a series of small pits which appear to have been used for charcoal burning. Evidence for later activity includes several large medieval pits, at least some of which appear to have been used for gravel extraction. One of these pits was perhaps a well, and another contained large quantities of pottery, possibly indicating that it was used for storage.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 24198 21434
Map Sheet:TG22SW
Parish:BUXTON WITH LAMMAS, BROADLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

November 2003. Systematic Fieldwalking and Metal-detecting Survey.
Field survey of proposed mineral extraction area. From context 1.
Material recovered during fieldwalking included 132 worked flints, 7 burnt flints, 1 sherd of Roman pottery, and fragments of post medieval brick, tile, pottery, glass and clay pipe. Metal detecting recovered one Roman coin, a single fragment of medieval metalwork (possibly a book or casket mount) and a range of post medieval objects including buttons, buckles, fragments of thimbles and spurs and a total of seven lead weights.
The comparatively limited quantity of worked flints recovered during fieldwalking included diagnostic material indicating flintworking in the earlier Neolithic period. The 22 tools identified from the flint assemblage include Neolithic leaf-shaped arrowheads, end scrapers and side scrapers. The remaining tools, a knife, fabricators and borers, may be Neolithic, but could also date from the Early Bronze Age.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S2).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 23 May 2007.

March-April 2004. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation prior to mineral extraction (Phase 1).
A total of five linear features were recorded, together forming a trapezoidal enclosure with a track or routeway along its southwestern edge. From one of these features, fragments of a Samian bowl were recovered, suggesting a Roman date. The relative paucity of artefactual evidence points towards an agricultural rather than a settlement function for this enclosure.
Also recorded were 27 shallow pits which contained significant amounts of charcoal and evidence of burning in situ, suggesting they may have been the remnants of charcoal burning pits. A radiocarbon date for these pits suggests they are Middle Saxon. Within some of the pits were small stake holes which may have represented some kind of support structure either for suspending over a fire or as part of the structure of the initial kindling. It is possible that these related to temporary encampments of some kind which have left no trace in the archaeological record. However, the lack of any material culture appears to suggest an industrial purpose for these features, with charcoal being produced on a small scale. The production of charcoal indicates a wooded landscape in the immediate vicinity during the Middle Saxon period.
See report (S3) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S4).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 23 May 2007.

April 2005. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation prior to mineral extraction (Phase 2).
Six linear features were recorded, two of which formed a continuation of a northwest - southeast routeway of possible Romano British date, extending along the southwestern edge of an enclosure identified by the previous phase of excavation. Two of the remaining linears formed another enclosure ditch or possible second northeast - southwest route way. With no dating evidence recovered, a Romano British date for these features is most probable.
Eleven small burnt pits similar to those revealed by the previous phase were recorded. The seemingly random distribution of these pits suggests they were not part of an organised settlement or the result of contemporary events. The number of pits and their relatively small size suggests small-scale charcoal production in the Middle or Late Saxon period.
A single late medieval or early post medieval ditch was also recorded, oriented south-west to north-east and possibly related to a 15th century moated site to the north-east of the site.
See report (S5) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S6).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 24 September 2007.

August-September 2006. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation prior to mineral extraction (Phase 3).
Two potentially Roman ditches were identified which extended from the area of the 2005 excavations. A total of 22 shallow pits with considerable evidence for burning were distributed across the site. These are comparable to pits revealed in previous excavations of adjacent areas, some of which yielded a Middle Saxon radiocarbon date.
Evidence for previously unidentified medieval activity on the site was recorded in the form of a number of substantial pits enclosed by a corner of a ditch. The comparatively large ditch, with a right-angled corner, extended from the northern to the western edge of the excavation, aligned northwest-southeast and northeast-southwest. The only artefact recovered from the ditch was an undiagnostic flint flake. However, the ditch enclosed a group of four large medieval pits and cut a ditch of Roman date, so it is suggested that the ditch is medieval. One of the pits was possibly a well, although it was not fully excavated so this interpretation is tentative. A large assemblage of medieval pottery sherds (434 sherds in total) was recovered from another of the pits, and included fragments of jars and cooking vessels. This pit may have been used for storage, or was perhaps a quarry pit that was backfilled with rubbish, including broken pottery vessels. The presence of pottery in a seemingly non-settlement location may relate to the possible nearby well. The remaining two large pits were shallower, with less regular sides. Both contained small assemblages of pottery and one included an oyster shell. These two pits may have been used primarily to extract gravel.
Finds included further Neolithic or early Bronze Age flint implements.
See report (S7) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S8).
A. Cattermole (NLA), 24 September 2007.

April 2008. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation prior to mineral extraction (Phase 4).
A total of 13 burnt pit features were documented and nine were sampled and recorded. These were similar in form and fill to those recorded during earlier phases of excavation at this site, except for one which was more substantial in size. As with previous discoveries, these pits relate to charcoal production. The small medieval enclosure recorded during the 2006 excavation did not continue into this area.
See report (S9) for further information.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 24 June 2009.

September 2009. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation prior to mineral extraction (Phase 5).
Details to come.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 June 2015.

April 2013. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation prior to mineral extraction (Phase 6).
Details to come.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 June 2015.

May-June 2014. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation prior to mineral extraction (Phase 7).
Details to come.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 June 2015.

October 2014. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation prior to mineral extraction (Phase 8).
Details to come.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 June 2015.

Monument Types

  • LINEAR FEATURE (Unknown date)
  • PIT (Unknown date)
  • FINDSPOT (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
  • LITHIC WORKING SITE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
  • ENCLOSURE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • FIELD SYSTEM (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • LINEAR FEATURE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • CHARCOAL BURNERS SITE (Middle Saxon - 651 AD to 850 AD)
  • CHARCOAL BURNING PLATFORM (Middle Saxon - 651 AD to 850 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Middle Saxon - 651 AD to 850 AD)
  • PIT (Middle Saxon to Late Saxon - 690 AD to 900 AD)
  • DITCH (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)
  • EXTRACTIVE PIT? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • STORAGE PIT? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • WELL? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • DITCH (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

  • OYSTER SHELL (Unknown date)
  • PLANT REMAINS (Unknown date)
  • BLADE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • FLAKE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • SCRAPER (TOOL) (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • CORE (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • DEBITAGE (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • FLAKE (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • SCRAPER (TOOL) (Early Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 1501 BC)
  • POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • CHARCOAL (Middle Saxon - 651 AD to 850 AD)
  • POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • NAIL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S1>Unpublished Contractor Report: Beadsmoore, E. and Hall, A. 2003. Mayton Wood, Buxton with Lammas, Norfolk. An Archaeological Evaluation by Field Survey. Cambridge Archaeological Unit. 586.
<S2>Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. 2004. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 2003. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLIV Pt III pp 573-588. p 575.
<S3>Unpublished Contractor Report: Patten, R. 2004. Mayton Wood, Buxton with Lammas, Norfolk: A 'Strip, Map and Sample' Excavation. Phase 1. Cambridge Archaeological Unit. 649.
<S4>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 752.
<S5>Unpublished Contractor Report: Bishop, B. 2005. Mayton Wood, Buxton with Lammas, Norfolk: A 'Strip, Map and Sample' Excavation. Phase 2. Cambridge Archaeological Unit. 693.
<S6>Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. 2006. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk in 2005. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLV Pt I pp 124-136. p 125.
<S7>Unpublished Contractor Report: Beadsmoore, E. 2007. Mayton Wood, Buxton with Lammas, Norfolk. A Strip, Map and Record Excavation. Cambridge Archaeological Unit. 765.
<S8>Article in Serial: Gurney, D. (ed.). 2007. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk in 2006. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLV Pt II pp 261-273. p 262.
<S9>Unpublished Contractor Report: Hutton, J. 2008. Mayton Wood, Buxton with Lammas, Norfolk. A Strip, Map and Sample Excavation. Cambridge Archaeological Unit. 841.

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