Record Details

NHER Number:9753
Type of record:Monument
Name:Roman settlement, enclosures and fields, Harford Park and Ride site

Summary

A large area of Roman settlement, enclosures and field boundaries is visible on aerial photographs. The eastern portion of this area includes an area of enclosed ans subdivided land which has been excavated (NHER 39268), revealing enclosures and fields as visible in the cropmark evidence as well as an aisled building which was not visible on aerial photographs. Excavated evidence from this area sugets an early to mid-second century AD date. The western portion of this spread of cropmarks includes an enclosure with a trackway as well as field boundaries which appear to be a continuation of those recorded to the east. See NHER 35095 for details of test pitting within this western area of cropmarks.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 2160 0390
Map Sheet:TG20SW
Parish:KESWICK, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

For details of excavations at this site see NHER 39268.

July 1961.
Cropmark on Meridian aerial photographs.
See (S1 and (S2).
C.J.S. Green (NAU).

Location corrected from prints by E. Rose (NAU).

2 July 1974, 19 July 1977, 2 August 1977, 11 July 1986.
Cropmark on NAU aerial photographs.
Linear cropmark and enclosures.
D.A. Edwards (NAU), 18 February 1981.

2 July 1996. NLA air photography.
Cropmarks reveal three conjoined, slightly irregular, rectilinear enclosures. The ditches of which appear broad and well defined. A sinuous trackway leads up to the site. A second, broader trackway appears to run east to west. Several other linear features are visible, these may be elements of field system. It is possible that these features are late prehistoric, although a medieval element may exist on the site.
Previously recorded under NHER 35095.
S. Massey (NLA), 26 July 2001.

Some of these cropmarks were formerly recorded under NHER 29102 and 35095. Part of the site was excavated, see NHER 39268 for details. The central grid reference for this site has been altered from TG 2162 0388 to TG 2154 0393.

November 2009. Norfolk NMP.
A large area of Early Roman settlement, enclosures and fields is visible on aerial photographs (S1-S10) and has been recorded through excavation within the Harford Park and Ride development excavation area (NHER 39268) (S11-S12). The excavations (see NHER 39268) revealed evidence for enclosures, fields and an aisled building, not visible on the aerial photographs, and dating suggested an early to mid-second century AD date (S12). This site, which is centred on TG 2154 0393, also includes cropmarks seemingly of the same phase recorded to the west of the excavated area. These cropmarks were formerly recorded under NHER 29102 and NHER 35095. For the purposes of discussion the cropmarks have been split into two separate areas bisected by the Mangreen Lane; a western group, centred on TG 2139 0393 and an eastern group, centred on TG 2174 0397. The eastern area, which corresponds with the area excavated in advance of the Park and Ride construction (S12) will be discussed first.
Eastern Area (centred on TG 2174 0397)
The excavations revealed a series of enclosures and field boundary ditches within the central and northern parts of the field and the majority of these major features were also visible as cropmarks. The aerial photographs reveal additional components to this phase of enclosure and boundary construction, in particular within the northern part of the site. These features were not detected on the ground during the excavations, suggesting that they were relatively ephemeral or shallow features that have been truncated by the plough in-between the time of cropmark formation and the period of excavation, although it must be noted that much of the newly identified cropmarks were recorded from aerial photographs from 1996 (S10) and therefore less then ten years prior to the excavations.
Some of the additional fragmentary enclosures and boundaries towards north of the site visible in 1996 are extremely faint and it is feasible that some are the result of underlying geology and soils. However some components are reasonably clear and convincing, in particular the small rectangular enclosure at TG 2173 0405 and another group of ditches, possibly also relating to a small enclosure at TG 2179 0405 (S10). Given the mapped features overall coherence with the plan derived from the excavated features and the more definite cropmarks, it seems reasonable to suggest that they do form part of this phase of the site.
The NMP mapping indicates a concentration of enclosed and subdivided land within the northern and western part of the site and this coincides broadly with the location of the aisled building at TG 2164 0402. The land to the south, as far as the aerial photographs and excavations reveal, appears to be more open, defined to the north and south by boundary ditches. To the east and southeast are a group of boundary ditches that are hard to confidently phase to the Roman period from the NMP mapping. The northern part of one of these boundaries was included within the Roman phase of the NAU excavation plans (S11-S12), suggesting that it does form part of this layout, however a number of these ditches would also appear to have some apparent relationships with post-medieval field boundaries (NHER 52144). The ditches appear to terminate at or near post-medieval boundaries or, as in the case of the ditch to the southwest of the site, run parallel to the parish boundary. It is possible that some of the ditches recorded within this southern and eastern part of the site may not all be of Roman date.
Western Area (centred on TG 2139 0393)
The western part of the site, that to the west of the Mangreen Lane, consists of an enclosure (centred on TG 2139 0394) with a trackway leading to it and a series of field boundaries, assumed to be continuations of the ones excavated to the east. A series of test pits were being excavated within this field in 2000 (NHER 35095), but no results are currently available. It seems likely, given the broadly comparable alignment and positioning of the enclosures and boundaries, that the two sets of cropmarks are contemporary and that these represent a continuation of the ditches excavated to the east (NHER 39268) although it is feasible that they represent a different phase. The enclosure measures 70m by at least 30m. It is possible that it continued considerably further to the south, as at least one ditch following the same alignment as the western enclosure ditch is recorded to the south. A trackway and/or droveway appears to run towards and alongside the enclosure from the northwest, although no entrance in the enclsoure ditch is visible leading in from the trackway. It is possible that the trackway continued towards the enclsoures and building excavated to the east.
S. Horlock (NMP), 23 November 2009.

Monument Types

  • BOUNDARY DITCH (Unknown date)
  • ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
  • FIELD BOUNDARY (Unknown date)
  • FIELD SYSTEM (Unknown date)
  • LINEAR FEATURE (Unknown date)
  • RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
  • RECTILINEAR ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
  • TRACKWAY (Unknown date)
  • BOUNDARY DITCH (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • FIELD BOUNDARY (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • FIELD SYSTEM (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • RECTILINEAR ENCLOSURE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • SETTLEMENT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • TRACKWAY (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • DITCH (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD?)
  • FIELD BOUNDARY (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD?)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Aerial Photograph: TG2103 E,F,J,K,X-Z.
---Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TG 2103AA, AC - AF; TG 2104T.
---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TG 20 SW 40; TG 20 SW 64.
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Miscellaneous. Keswick.
<S1>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Meridian Airmaps Limited. 1961. MAL 61094 065-7 25-JUL-1961.
<S2>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Meridian Airmaps Limited. 1961. MAL 61094 070-4 25-JUL-1961.
<S3>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D. A. (NLA). 1974. NHER TG 2103J-K (NLA 9/ACF1-2) 02-JUL-1974.
<S4>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D. A. (NLA). 1977. NHER TG 2103E-F (NLA 45/AFB13-4) 19-JUL-1977.
<S5>Oblique Aerial Photograph: CUCAP. 1978. CUCAP (CGF10-13) 03-JUL-1978.
<S6>Oblique Aerial Photograph: CUCAP. 1978. NHER TG 2103S (CUCAP CGF10) 03-JUL-1978.
<S7>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D. A. (NLA). 1996. NHER TG 2103AA-B (NLA 367/HYG1-2) 02-JUL-1996.
<S8>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D. A. (NLA). 1996. NHER TG 2103AC (NLA 367/HYG4) 02-JUL-1996.
<S9>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D. A. (NLA). 1996. NHER TG 2103AF (NLA 367/HYF16) 02-JUL-1996.
<S10>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1996. OS/96247 171-2 22-JUL-1996 (NMR).
<S11>Unpublished Contractor Report: Trimble, G. 2004. Assessment Report and Post Excavation Project Design. Harford Park and Ride, Harford, Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 938.
<S12>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2009. [unknown]. 19 November.

Related records

39268Part of: Complex multi-phase prehistoric and Roman settlement site, Harford Park and Ride (Monument)
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