Record Details

NHER Number:40105
Type of record:Monument
Name:Probable medieval extractive pit at Monks Gate, land north of Abbey Barns

Summary

An archaeological evaluation in 2004 recorded a single pit of probable medieval date which may have been used for localised mineral extraction. The fill of the pit contained brick and tile, one animal bone fragment, one coal fragment, and one large residual sherd of possible Middle Iron Age or Late Bronze Age pottery which had been re-used as a tile. A single residual sherd of 12th to 13th pottery was also recovered from the subsoil.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TL 8653 8356
Map Sheet:TL88SE
Parish:THETFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

January 2004. Trial Trenching.
Two small trial trenches were excavated immediately north-west of the Thetford Priory grounds (NHER 5748) prior to residential redevelopment of the area. Contexts 1000-1004.
No archaeological finds or features were recorded within Trench 1. A single pit likely of medieval date was recorded in Trench 2. The fill of the pit contained brick and tile, one animal bone fragment, one coal fragment, and one large residual sherd of possible Middle Iron Age or Late Bronze Age pottery re-used as a tile. A single residual 12th to 13th pottery sherd was also recovered from the subsoil. It has been suggested that the pit may have been used for localised sand or chalk extraction.
See report (S1) for further details. The results of this work were also summarised in (S2).
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2007.307).
T. Sunley (NLA), 11 April 2007. Updated by H. Hamilton (NLA), 5 November 2008 and P. Watkins (HES), 5 May 2019.

Monument Types

  • FINDSPOT (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • FINDSPOT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
  • EXTRACTIVE PIT? (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)
  • FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • PIT (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)

Associated Finds

  • ANIMAL REMAINS (Undated)
  • BRICK (Undated)
  • TILE (Undated)
  • POT (Bronze Age - 2350 BC? to 701 BC?)
  • POT (Middle Iron Age - 400 BC? to 101 BC?)
  • POT (Medieval to 13th Century - 1100 AD to 1299 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S1>Unpublished Contractor Report: Crank, N. and Grant, J. 2004. Land to the North of Abbey Barns, Monksgate, Thetford, Norfolk. An Archaeological Evaluation. Archaeological Solutions. 1526.
<S2>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 761.

Related records - none

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