Open Area Excavation at Land at Kenninghall Road, Banham: An Archaeological Excavation as part of a Programme of Archaeological Mitigatory Works

Between the 1st of August 2022 and the 12th of January 2023, Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd. carried out an Open Area Excavation as part of a Programme of Archaeological Mitigatory Works on Land at Kenninghall Road, Banham, Norfolk in response to an archaeological brief (21st May 2021 CNF45907) issued by Steve Hickling of the Historic Environment Service of Norfolk County Council (HES/NCC). The scheme comprised an Open Area Excavation measuring approximately 1.13ha. The excavation area was separated by a centrally located gas main which necessitated a central exclusion zone. Area 1 was located to the west of the gas main and measured approximately 0.93ha and Area 2 was located to the east and measured approximately 0.21ha. The work was commissioned by J Bunn Homes. In Area 2 the excavations revealed a Neolithic to Bronze Age hengiform monument or interrupted ring ditch which produced struck flint and flint tools of Neolithic to Bronze Age date. A system of Later Prehistoric to Roman field boundaries. At the eastern side of Area 2, an extensive colluvium was identified partially covering the ring ditch and cut by the post-medieval to modern linear ditches. South of the area a group of extraction pits of medieval date were identified. In Area 1 a possible trackway and system of medieval to post-medieval field boundaries were observed across the larger part of the area with an area of medieval extraction pits and waste pits identified closer to Kenninghall Road to the north of the site. Immediately adjacent to the road a series of pits and postholes largely of medieval date was identified, linked with the medieval settlement of Banham.