Record Details

NHER Number:1812
Type of record:Find Spot
Name:Neolithic flint axehead hoard (Wells next the Sea, poorly located)

Summary

In 1906 a hoard of four Neolithic flint axehead, three of them polished, was found in a 'stone pit' at an unknown location in Wells next the Sea parish.

Images - none

Location

Parish:WELLS NEXT THE SEA, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

June 1906. Stray Find.
Found "...at top of stone pit on Robert Baker's Farm about 3 feet [0.9m] below surface in loose rubble"...:
Hoard of four Neolithic axeheads (three polished); greyish white colour. Biggest was 9 1/2 inches [24cm] long, smallest 6 1/2 inches [16.5cm] long.
These objects were donated to Norwich Castle Museum by Lord Leicester in 1929 (NWHCM : 1929.22).
Information from (S1) and (S2).
As noted on (S1) and (S2) these axeheads are mentioned by a range of sources.
The hoard and its circumstances of discovery are first described in (S3), details from which were then repeated in (S4). At this time they were apparently in the possession of 'Viscount Coke', so these objects would appear to be one of the reasons that Wells is one of the places recorded in (S5) as having produced Neolithic implements of 'sandy site type' prior to 1907 (Viscount Coke being one of the two finders listed).
The axeheads are described in details in (S6), the author having been permitted a personal inspection Through the kindness of the Earl of Leicester".
In (S7) there is mention of a "nest of of four Neolithic axes, discovered…in a pit near Wells", which are presumed to be the same objects, although their date of discovery is listed as 1921. This confusion is reflected in the Norwich Castle Museum's records, which note that the accession register originally listed the date of discovery as 1921 but a note of '?1906' had subsequently been added (presumably by R. R. Clarke when he was compiling the notes on (S1)).
The hoard is also noted in (S8)-(S10).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 14 February 2021.

The fact that these objects originally came into the possession of Viscount Coke suggests that they were probably found on Holkham Estate land. Given that they are recorded as having been found in a 'stone pit' it is perhaps worth noting that the Holkham estate owned the Leicester Lime Company, which was based in Wells, where they are known to have operated at least one substantial quarry. This was located at TF 9278 4293, between the railway line and the Stiffkey Road [1].
P. Watkins (HES), 14 February 2021.

Monument Types

  • FINDSPOT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)

Associated Finds

  • FLAKED AXEHEAD (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • HOARD (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • POLISHED AXEHEAD (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
<S1>Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Neolithic. Wells.
<S2>Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TF 94 SW 14.
<S3>Article in Serial: Clarke, W. G. 1907. Some Recent Finds in Norfolk. Norfolk Antiquarian Miscellany. Second Series Pt 2 pp 1-9. pp 6-7.
<S4>Serial: Society for Northern Research. 1907. Saga-Book of the Viking Club. Vol V. p 236.
<S5>Article in Serial: Clarke, W. G. 1907. The Distribution of Flint and Bronze Implements in Norfolk. Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society. Vol VIII Pt III (for 1906-1907) pp 393-409. p 403.
<S6>Article in Serial: Smith, R. A. 1921. Hoards of Neolithic Celts. Archaeologia. Vol 71 (Second Series) pp 113-124. pp 115-116.
<S7>Article in Serial: 1929. Summary of Proceedings. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia. Vol VI Pt I (for 1928) pp 55-56. p 56.
<S8>Article in Serial: 1929. Summary of Proceedings. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia. Vol VI Pt II (for 1929) pp 143-145. p 143.
<S9>Publication: Kendrick, T. D. and Hawkes, C. F. C. 1932. Archaeology in England and Wales, 1914-1931. p 25. p 72.
<S10>Article in Monograph: Sainty, J. E. 1935. Norfolk Prehistory. Report of the Annual Meeting, 1935. Norwich, September 4-11. British Association for the Advancement of Science. Appendix pp 60-71. p 65.

Related records - none

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