This archaeological report details the findings from Informative Trial Trenching as Part of a Programme of Archaeological Mitigatory Work conducted by Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd. (PCA) at Roarr Dinosaur Adventure, NR9 5JE, between October 2nd and October 18th, 2023. The project was commissioned by Cheffins Planning on behalf of Norfolk Dinosaur Park Ltd. and was in response to a planning condition attached to an 8.6ha park extension proposal by Broadland District Council (BDC).The archaeological trial trenching was carried out following a program of Historic Desk Based Assessment (Crawley, Broughton 2022) and a geophysical survey conducted by Magnitude Surveys (Toctan, Russel 2023). The fieldwork has identified a widespread albeit low-level of past activity across the site during the prehistoric period, with, perhaps, two phases belonging to the Neolithic to Early Bronze Age, and one dated to the Iron Age. This is in line with the findings from the nearby site at Weston Park Golf Club, excavated in 2017 (Douglas 2017). Radiocarbon dating confirmed an Iron Age date of 362-161 (95.4%) cal BC for one of the charcoal-rich pits. A further radiocarbon date of 665-821 (95.4%) cal AD indicated that middle to late Anglo-Saxon charcoal production was being undertaken at the site. The site lies within the bounds of Weston Park (MNF33733), which was established in the late 18th century and includes areas of ancient woodlands, as well as earthworks (MNF55938). The Park also contains the site of Weston House (MNF7723) demolished in the 1920s. Worked stones likely derived from a disused garden feature, dated to the 19th-20th century was found adjacent to Trench 21. The northern part of the site was heavily disturbed by sand quarry pits (Crawley, Broughton 2022). The quarry pits may have been associated with the Atlas Works cement factory, which functioned from 1941 until 1992 (NHER 50578), or else were used for extracting materials used in various building projects around the historic estate.
Nica et al. (Wed,) studied this question.