Record Details

NHER Number:17217
Type of record:Monument
Name:Roman and Late Saxon buildings, multi-period finds

Summary

In 1977 aerial photography recorded the cropmark of a ring ditch and a rectilinear feature. In 1981 metal detecting recovered a 14th century seal and an Edward I penny. An excavation in 1989 revealed that the ring ditch was a Roman structure dated to the 1st or 2nd century AD, and that there were also three Late Saxon rectangular buildings here from a rural domestic settlement. Other finds include a Mesolithic flint scatter and various later prehistoric flints. In 1995, a Mesolithic axe was discovered during excavations for an electricity cable.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 12 16
Map Sheet:TG11NW
Parish:ATTLEBRIDGE, BROADLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

The cropmarks of the Roman structure are now recorded under NHER 50678, the Saxon buildings under NHER 50679 and the medieval fields are now NHER 50677.

19 July 1977. NAU air photography.
Cropmarks of one ring ditch and an adjacent rectangular feature were observed in aerial photos. The rectangular feature may represent a building.
D. Edwards (NAU), 22 December 1980.

1981. Metal-detecting.
2 medieval coins and 1 copper alloy seal.
The seal has a hunting cry SOHOV and ROBEN C (?) and a hare blowing horn astride quadruped. It has been dated to the 14th century and can be compared to an example from Bradwell (NHER 17264). Also compare with (S1).
The coins have been identified as an Edward I penny and a Henry VI calais mint penny.
S. Margeson (NCM), 30 November 1981.

Winter 1989. Excavation by NAU.
A Roman circular building and three Late Saxon rectangular buildings were excavated by NAU. The principle feature associated with the Roman building was a ring ditch with two phases of construction. This was dated to the 1st-2nd centuries AD and had served as a foundation trench for a sequence of timber structures.
Three Late Saxon post-hole buildings were located to the south of the ring ditch, and one of these was cut by a Late Saxon post-in-trench building. These structures appear to have been built to a planned layout, and have been interpreted as part of a rural, domestic settlement.
The excavations also investigated a series of linear cropmarks in the north end of the field, which were identified as medieval boundary ditches with a fenced enclosure. (S2) notes that aerial photographs indicate the presence of similar field systems on the opposite side of the river.
Finds from the site included a "background scatter of struck flint", ranging in date from the Mesolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The flints were recovered from all excavation trenches and were primarily retrieved from later contexts. However, a collection of micro-blades, flakes, spalls and several possible blades recorded at an interface between subsoil and hillwash in Trench C have been interpreted as likely in situ working debris from the Mesolithic period.
See final publication (S2) for full details. This work was also reported in (S3). See also press cutting (S4) in file (which interprets the Saxon buildings as barns). See (S5) for parallels of the Roman structure at Beddingham and Watergate, Sussex.
E. Rose (NLA), 9 January 1990. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 14 May 2014.

15 October 1993. NLA air photography.
The field containing the features identified in 1977 is visible, however the cropmarks not clear.
H. Clare (NLA), 16 February 2001.

1995. Stray Find.
Found by [1] when digging for electricity cable (at depth of 12in [30cm]):
1 Mesolithic flint axe. See drawing (S6).
Identified by P. Robins (NCM), see description in file.
W. Milligan (NCM), 28 February 1995.

Grid reference corrected from original ([2]).
M. Horlock (NLA), 24 March 2003.

Monument Types

  • FINDSPOT (Prehistoric - 1000000 BC to 42 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • LITHIC WORKING SITE (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • FINDSPOT (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
  • FINDSPOT (Early Iron Age to Roman - 800 BC to 409 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • POST HOLE (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • RING DITCH (Roman - 43 AD to 199 AD)
  • ROUND HOUSE (DOMESTIC) (Roman - 43 AD to 199 AD)
  • TEMPLE? (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Early Saxon - 410 AD to 650 AD)
  • BARN? (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • BUILDING (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Late Saxon to 19th Century - 851 AD to 1900 AD)
  • POST HOLE (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • FIELD SYSTEM (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

  • ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT (Unknown date)
  • MOLLUSCA REMAINS (Undated)
  • NAIL (Undated)
  • PLUMB BOB (Undated)
  • ROOF TILE (Undated)
  • BLADE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
  • DEBITAGE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
  • END SCRAPER (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
  • FLAKE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
  • RETOUCHED FLAKE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
  • SCRAPER (TOOL) (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
  • BLADE (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • BLADE? (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • DEBITAGE (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • FLAKE (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • FLAKED AXEHEAD (Mesolithic - 10000 BC to 4001 BC)
  • ARROWHEAD (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC? to 1501 BC?)
  • BARBED AND TANGED ARROWHEAD (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
  • CORE (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC? to 1501 BC?)
  • POT (Late Iron Age to Roman - 100 BC to 409 AD)
  • ANIMAL REMAINS (Roman to Medieval - 43 AD to 1539 AD)
  • BRICK (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • POT (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
  • POT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • WHETSTONE (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
  • COIN (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FLOOR TILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • HORSESHOE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • NAIL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • POT (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • VESSEL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • WHETSTONE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • SEAL MATRIX (13th Century to 14th Century - 1300 AD to 1399 AD)
  • CLAY PIPE (SMOKING) (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • MUSKET BALL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • POT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Aerial Photograph: TG1316 A-C;TG1216 A-B,E-AC,AE-AJ,AL-ABA,ABH,ABJ..
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Fiche: Exists.
---Photograph: EZU - FBB, GZT.
<S1>Article in Serial: Margeson, S. 1985. 14th-century Seal-Dies from Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XXXIX Pt II pp 218-220. p 218.
<S2>Article in Serial: Hall, J. J. 1996. Excavation at Attlebridge 1989. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLII Pt III pp 296-320.
<S3>Article in Serial: Gurney, D (ed.). 1990. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 1989. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLI Pt I pp 107-112. p 107.
<S4>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1990. Dig locates rare house. 8 January.
<S5>Article in Serial: Rudling, R. 1998. The Roman Villas of Sussex, with particular reference to the villas at Beddingham and Bignor. Proximus. Vol 2 pp 97-111. p 106.
<S6>Illustration: Robins, P. 1995. Drawing of a Mesolithic flaked flint axehead from Attlebridge. Paper. 1:1.

Related records

50679Parent of: Late Saxon structures (Monument)
50677Parent of: Medieval enclosures and field boundaries (Monument)
50678Parent of: Roman circular structure (Monument)

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