Archaeological Evaluation: Land off Westfield Road, Dereham, Norfolk

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken on land off Westfield Road, Dereham, Norfolk. Fourteen evaluation trenches were excavated across the proposed development area most were targeted on anomalies identified in the geophysical survey. No remains of prehistoric date were identified though the recovery of a small quantity of humanly struck flint attests to a human presence in the landscape. One pit with in-situ burning in the west of the might be Iron Age though its dating is based on a single degraded sherd of pottery. A second charcoal-rich pit in the west might be of Roman date. No Anglo-Saxon features were present and a small amount of medieval pottery recovered all appeared to be residual in later features. Linear ditches of post-medieval and modern date were identified. Post-medieval evidence also included remains of a possible brick kiln and near-by clay extraction pit perhaps dating from the 15th/16th century. Numerous other ditches were undated with most relating to post-medieval and possibly earlier land use.