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Record Details

NHER Number:7947
Type of record:Monument
Name:The Pye Roman Road

Summary

In Norfolk this Roman road runs between Scole and the Roman town of Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund. It can be seen on aerial photographs and is marked on old maps. Excavation of part of the road revealed two parallel roads - one Roman with two ditches on either side of a hard surface and the other a post medieval diversion surviving as wheel ruts. It has been suggested that the Roman road cuts across a prehistoric field system that extends between Scole and Dickleburgh, but the date of that field system is a matter of great debate. The cropmarks of the section of this road running through Dunston Park are recorded under NHER 52170 and the section to the west of Caistor Roman town is under NHER 52197.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TM 1873 9104
Map Sheet:TM19SE
Parish:DICKLEBURGH AND RUSHALL, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK
LONG STRATTON, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK
SCOLE, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK
SWAINSTHORPE, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK
TIVETSHALL ST MARY, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK
WACTON, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Roman road.
Enters Norfolk at Scole Bridge and runs to point opposite Caistor Roman town. Mainly under modern road but part survives as cropmarks.

Photocopy of photograph 1930 of section in Dunston Park in file. Also comments on suggested associated field system.
E. Rose (NAU), 22 Janaury 1990.

1992. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of the excavation of the pipe trench for the Yelverton to East Carleton Gas Pipeline. This work identified a number of features at the point where the pipeline crossed a track that lies on the putative course of the Pye Road. For safety reasons the section could not be cleaned and it was only possible to observed features from a distance, on the opposite side of the trench. Three cut features could be identified, all apparently ditches.
See report (S8) for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S9).
P. Watkins (HES), 5 March 2015.

January 1993. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of road widening operations that coincided with the postulated line of this road adjacent to Dunston Common (Stoke Holy Cross; TG 2260 0273).
No deposits associated with the road could be seen in the sections examined. If, as suggested, this section of its line is represented by a north-to-south aligned farm track it is possibly that its use has destroyed any traces of the original road.
See report (S12) and NHER 65290 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 February 2022.

1993. Trial Trench.
Evaluation of proposed golf course in Dunston Park.
Single trench excavated across road line (Context 2).
See report (S10) and description in file for further details. The results of this work are also summarised in (S11).
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 1 April 2015.

27 July 1995. NLA air photography (S1).
Cropmarks of part of the road visible (from NGR TG22200100 to NGR TG22330150) in Swainsthorpe parish.
H. Clare (NLA), 20 April 2001.

14 June 1996. NLA air photography (S2).
Line of Pye Road visible as cropmark to south of Dunston Hall.
S. Massey (NLA), 8 August 2001.

2 July 1996. NLA air photography (S3).
Cropmark indicating the line of the Pye Road as it turns off the modern road course (A140).
The turnpike road course can be seen to run along a similar line.
S. Massey (NLA), 23 July 2001.

September 2005.
The Scole-Dickleburgh field system associated with the Roman Pye Road has been much discussed. (S4) suggests the field system is prehistoric and is cut by the line of the road. (S5) argues the system is Roman. (S6) supports the Roman theory. The system is now largely thought to be prehistoric (S7). See NHER 53075 for further information on this field system.
M. Dennis (NLA), 29 September 2005.

March 2009. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of the section of this road running through Dunston Park are recorded under NHER 52170 and the section to the west of Caistor Roman town is under NHER 52197.
S. Horlock (NMP), 24 March 2009.

Monument Types

  • DITCH (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • ROAD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • ROAD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • ROAD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • ROAD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • FINDSPOT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • ROAD (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

  • POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • BRICK (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • PERSONAL ORNAMENT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • TILE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Protected Status

  • SHINE

Sources and further reading

---Aerial Photograph: TG2203 K-R,AA,AW,AX,AEG-AEK; TG2201 D-H,L-Q,AD-AG.
---Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TG 2201ABL - ABQ.
---Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TG 2201ABD - ABK.
---Unpublished Contractor Report: Forrest, K. 1993. Evaluation Report. Dunston Hall, Stoke Holy Cross, Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 20.
---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 - Roman. Stoke Holy Cross.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Slide: Various. Slide.
---Fiche: Exists.
---Collection: Norfolk Historic Environment Record Staff. 1975-[2000]. HER Record Notes. Norfolk Historic Environment Service.
<S1>Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1995. TG2201/AM, AN.
<S2>Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TG 2201AX - ABC.
<S3>Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TG 2201AP - AQ.
<S4>Article in Serial: Williamson, T.. 1986. Parish boundaries and Early Fields, continuity and discontinuity.. Journal of Historical Geography. Vol 12, pt 3, pp 241-8.
<S5>Article in Serial: Hinton, D.. 1997. The Scole-Dickleburgh field system reconsidered.. Landscape History. Vol 19.
<S6>Article in Serial: Williamson, T.. 1998. The Scole-Dickleburgh field system revisited.. Landscape History. Vol 20.
<S7>Article in Serial: Williamson, T.. 2003. The 'Scole-Dickleburgh Field System' in Context: co-axial landscapes in Norfolk and beyond.. The Annual.
<S8>Unpublished Contractor Report: Emery, P. 1992. Watching Brief for the Yelverton to East Carleton Gas Pipeline, Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 42.
<S9>Article in Serial: Gurney, D. (ed.). 1993. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 1992. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLI Pt IV pp 522-532. p 532.
<S10>Unpublished Contractor Report: Forrest, K. 1993. Evaluation Report. Dunston Hall, Stoke Holy Cross, Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 20.
<S11>Article in Serial: Gurney, D. (ed.). 1994. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 1993. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLII Pt I pp 115-123. p 122.
<S12>Unpublished Contractor Report: Penn, K. 1993. Dunston Common Road Improvement. Report on a Watching Brief. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 16.

Related records

52159Parent of: Cropmarks of a possible branch road of the Roman Pye Road and an associated square enclosure, all possibly Roman in date (Monument)
52170Parent of: Cropmarks of a section of the Roman Pye Road running through Dunston Park (Monument)
52197Related to: Earthworks and cropmarks of Roman or medieval to post-medieval linear embankment (Monument)

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