Record Details
| NHER Number: | 20653 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Neolithic or Early Bronze Age site, site of Middle and Late Saxon settlement and multi-period finds |
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Summary
A single fragment of Beaker pottery found during field walking suggests that this site was occupied during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, although the nature of that occupation is uncertain. A settlement developed on this site during the Iron Age. This is also the site of a Middle Saxon settlement, which continued to develop throughout the Late Saxon period, until the settlement was abandoned in the early 12th century. This settlement continues under NHER 20651. Prehistoric flints, including a Beaker barbed and tanged arrowhead, and pottery dating from the Iron Age to the post medieval period have been found during field walking and metal detecting.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TF 90 13 |
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| Map Sheet: | TF91SW |
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| Parish: | FRANSHAM, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
1979 and 1983. Field walking. Field Great Fransham 228. Varying conditions.
Large numbers of finds.
Some Iron Age pottery, Ipswich ware, Thetford type ware and medieval wares including Grimston and early medieval; post medieval wares including stonewares, glazed red eathenwares. Roman sherds.
Flints including barbed and tanged arrowhead.
Lava quern fragments.
See (S1).
Found and identified by A. Rogerson (NAU)
E. Rose (NAU) 10 September 1987.
1987. Field walking.
Further finds, same categories.
Ipswich ware plotted in detail.
Also Beaker sherd, possible Early Saxon sherd.
See (S1)
E. Rose (NAU) 5 August 1987.
November/December 1989. Field walking and metal detecting.
Restricted area along north edge of site.
No significant finds apart from plain lead spindle whorl, date uncertain.
Context 7, casually collected sherds.
See (S1).
A. Rogerson (NLA), March 1992.
(S2) states that this is the only Middle Saxon site in Fransham. The settlement developed from the 7th century as a small, nucleated linear village, surrounded by arable fields. During the Late Saxon period, the settlement seems to have expanded, and was one of the two main centres of settlement in the parish in the Late Saxon period, both of which had been abandoned by about 1100.
See (S2) and NHER 20651.
S. Spooner (NLA) 14 December 2005.
September-October 2006. Metal-detecting.
1 Middle/Late Saxon strap-end.
Identified by S. Ashley (NLA). See description in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 23 November 2006.
Updated by J. Page (HES), 11 March 2014.
Monument Types
- OCCUPATION SITE (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
- SETTLEMENT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- SETTLEMENT (Middle Saxon to Late Saxon - 651 AD to 1065 AD)
Associated Finds
- QUERN (Unknown date)
- SPINDLE WHORL (Unknown date)
- LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
- BARBED AND TANGED ARROWHEAD (Beaker - 2300 BC to 1700 BC)
- POT (Beaker - 2300 BC to 1700 BC)
- POT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- POT (Middle Saxon - 651 AD to 850 AD)
- STRAP END (Middle Saxon to Late Saxon - 651 AD to 1065 AD)
- POT (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
- POT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- POT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| --- | *Fieldwork: Fransham Survey. G228. AJGR. |
| --- | Illustration: Finds Illustrations. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| <S1> | Archive: Fransham Field Walking Boxfile. |
| <S2> | Thesis: Rogerson, A.. 1995. Fransham: an archaeological and historical study of a parish on the Norfolk boulder clay. |
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