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Record Details

NHER Number:1827
Type of record:Monument
Name:Warham Burrows, possible Iron Age or Roman enclosure

Summary

Aerial photography from 1951 and 1990 indicates the presence of a rectilinear enclosure on this site. Excavation in 1959 suggested that it may have been an unfinished Iron Age hillfort, or a Roman cut through an Iron Age occupation site, as a number of pottery sherds from the Early Bronze Age through to the Roman period were recovered. The ditch itself is 'V' shaped in section, and had a single entrance. It is close to the nearby Iron Age fort of Warham camp (NHER 1828).

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TF 94 41
Map Sheet:TF94SW
Parish:WARHAM, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Rectangular enclosure rediscovered from air 1951, excavated 1959.
Suggested at first as Roman, then as unfinished Iron Age fort. Medieval sherds also found.
1982 - some sherds reidentified as Early Bronze Age.
Site Scheduled 1998.

3 November 1976.
Site now a ploughed field, no trace visible from ground.
E. Rose (NAU).

See definitive publication (S1), adds Roman sherds and post medieval sherds.
E. Rose 23 July 1986.

1987-1988. Found with metal detector.
Medieval finds.
(Context 2).
See report in file.
E. Rose (NAU).

For research and notes on the parish and field boundaries around the site, see correspondence and plans in file.
D. Gurney (NLA), 13 June 1995.

October 2002. Norfolk NMP.
Cropmarks of a rectilinear enclosure are visible on CUCAP aerial photographs from 1951 (S2) and NLA images from 1990 (S3). The site has previously been dated to sometime between the end of the third century BC and the mid-1st century AD through fragments of Late Iron Age and Romano-British pottery found during excavation.
The site is centred at [1] and is approximately 70m by 80m in size. There appears to be an entrance in both the western and eastern sides; the western one located at [2] and the eastern one at [3].
(The rectification of this site was difficult due to the lack of control on all the available photographs. As a result the plot location is an approximation, the accuracy is not certain.)
H. Clare (NMP), 6 May 2003.

Monument Types

  • PIT (Unknown date)
  • HILLFORT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
  • HILLFORT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
  • RECTILINEAR ENCLOSURE (Early Iron Age to Roman - 800 BC to 409 AD)
  • FARMSTEAD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • TEMPORARY CAMP (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • VILLA (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Finds

  • NEEDLE (Undated)
  • POT (Undated)
  • POT (Beaker - 2300 BC to 1700 BC)
  • POT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
  • POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • BRICK (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • DRESS COMPONENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FURNITURE FITTING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • STRAP FITTING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status

  • SHINE
  • Scheduled Monument

Sources and further reading

---Website: Lock, G. and Ralston, I. 2017. Atlas of Hillforts Project On-line Gazetteer. https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/. 31 May 2023. EN2418.
---Photograph: R16-19.
---Aerial Photograph: St. Joseph, TF9440 AK-AM (AAF.); TF9441 AA-AC,AJ,AK,AR-ABA (Unit).
---Article in Monograph: Gregory, T. 1986. Enclosures of 'Thornham' Type in Norfolk. Excavations at Thornham, Warham, Wighton and Caistor St. Edmund, Norfolk. Gregory, T. and Gurney, D.. EAA No 30 pp 32-35.
---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TF 94 SW 6 [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 6.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Iron Age. Warham (St Mary and All Saints) [2].
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Medieval. Warham.
---Article in Serial: 1960. Norfolk Research Committee Excavations 1959. Norfolk Research Committee Bulletin. Series 1 No 12 (for 1959) p 1.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Newspaper Article: Lynn News and Advertiser. 1959. [Articles on the archaeological work undertaken at two sites in Warham].
---Newspaper Article: 1959. [Articles on the archaeological work undertaken at two sites in Warham].
---Collection: Norfolk Historic Environment Record Staff. 1975-[2000]. HER Record Notes. Norfolk Historic Environment Service.
---Designation: English Heritage. 1990-2013. English Heritage Scheduling Notification. Notification. DNF289.
---Designation: English Heritage. 1994? -2011?. English Heritage Digital Designation Record. Record. DNF289.
<S1>Article in Monograph: Gregory, T. 1986. Warham Burrows. Barrow Excavations in Norfolk, 1950-82. East Anglian Archaeology. Gregory, T. and Gurney, D.. EAA No 30 pp 17-21.
<S2>Aerial Photograph: 1951. CUCAP (FQ0050, FQ0052) 15-JUN-1951 (CUCAP).
<S3>Aerial Photograph: 1990. SMR TF 9441AA-AB, AN, AR-AS, AV (NLA fl.268 / GBW13-14, GBX15, GBY3-4, 7) 29-JUN-1990 (SMR).

Related records

1828Related to: Warham Camp Iron Age Fort (Monument)
1826Related to: Warham Roman Settlement, Iron Age to Early Saxon occupation (Monument)

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