Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Location

Full description

Various objects found during the late 19th century and early 20th century in the parish of Heacham, but with little or no additional information regarding provenance.

THE FINDS OF B. LOWERISON AND OTHERS, EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Many finds were recovered in Heacham during the early 20th century by B. Lowerison, the headmaster of the local school and an enthusiastic amateur archaeologist. Various items recovered both by Lowerison himself and a number of his acquaintances became the inspiration for a series of fictional historical stories that Lowerison published in 1906 (S1).

It is clear from (S1) that Lowerison and his colleages had recovered a range of other worked flints in Heacham. It is noted that "rude Neoliths are found all over the fields round [the] Recreation Ground" and a number of finds are illustrated, including arrowheads, at least one possible knife, various scrapers, a borer and a hammerstone. A broken Neolithic polished axehead is also described ('Inito's axe) and figured. Lowerison's prehistoric finds were also noted in (S2) (S3) and (S4); being listed in (S4) as including both "Boulder Clay" and "Sandy Site" types. Lowerison exhibited a number of his worked flint objects at a meeting of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia in December 1911 (S5). These include the rechipped axe and the polished axehead fragment noted above, as well as "'Cissury type' scrapers...a single-barbed arrowhead and two leaf-shaped arrowheads with white patination, and a finely-chipped ash-leaf arrowhead of reddish chalcedonic flint". This description is the source of both the list given on (S6) and a number of the finds listed in (S7).

Later finds from Heacham mentioned in (S1) include a Roman coin (a "large brass of Hadrian") that had been found in 1904.

Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 15 December 2013.

FINDS IN THE NORWICH CASTLE MUSEUM

The Norwich Castle Museum's W. G. Clarke Collection includes a number of "undated prehistoric flint implements" from a site in Heacham (NWHCM : 1926.32.62). The provenance of these finds is not known.

The W. G. Clarke Collection also includes a thick, short partially crested flint blade that is marked as being from Heacham. An old label identifies this object as a fabricator and it is now in a bag marked "Meso/Neo" - it was probably identified as such by P. Robins (NCM).

FINDS IN OTHER NORFOLK MUSEUMS

The King's Lynn holds a flint 'pick' with a triangular section that was found at an unknown site in Heacham by [1] (KILLM : 1965.55). The museum's records describe this object as "part of a Thames pick", suggesting it is possibly a Mesolithic implement (for a time tranchet axes were often referred to as 'Thames picks'). See NHER 1401 for details of another Mesolithic triangular-sectioned pick that has been found in Heacham.

FINDS IN OTHER MUSEUMS

The Birmingham Museum holds a prehistoric quartzite pebble macehead with an hour-glass perforation that was found at an unknown location in Heacham (Bir 1964A2515). This macehead is listed in (S8) and is also noted in (S9). Although often described as Mesolithic, these objects are not closely datable, having been found in both Mesolithic and later prehistoric contexts.
P. Watkins (HES), 15 December 2013.

Monument Types

• FINDSPOT (Prehistoric - 1000000 BC? to 42 AD)
• FINDSPOT (Early Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age - 10000 BC? to 1501 BC)
• FINDSPOT (Early Mesolithic to Late Neolithic - 10000 BC? to 2351 BC)
• FINDSPOT (Neolithic - 4000 BC? to 2351 BC)
• FINDSPOT (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC? to 1501 BC)
• FINDSPOT (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD)

Associated Finds

• BORER (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
• HAMMERSTONE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
• LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
• CRESTED BLADE (Early Mesolithic to Late Neolithic - 10000 BC to 2351 BC)
• PEBBLE MACE (Early Mesolithic to Early Bronze Age - 10000 BC to 1501 BC)
• PICK? (Mesolithic - 10000 BC? to 4001 BC?)
• KNIFE? (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• LEAF ARROWHEAD (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• POLISHED AXEHEAD? (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• SCRAPER (TOOL) (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• BARBED AND TANGED ARROWHEAD (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
• COIN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

Related records - none

Find out more...

• Parish Summary: Heacham (Parish Summary)