Land off Hickling Lane, Swainsthorpe, Norfolk

Between the 23rd of October and the 3rd of November Oxford Archaeology carried out trial trenching at Land off Hickling Lane, Swainsthorpe in Norfolk. Forty-one trenches were opened across the site. Some of these trenches were located to target cropmarks. Fifteen trenches were found to contain archaeological remains of Early Bronze Age and late medieval to post-medieval date, with some remains of modern activity also evident. The earliest datable feature was a single pit located at the southern end of the site; this pit produced sherds of Early Bronze Age pottery of the Collared Urn ceramic tradition, struck flint and fragments of fired clay. Two of the linear cropmarks to the north and west of the site were targeted by trenches. The trenching here revealed the remains of two ditches, both probably representing earlier field boundaries. A third ditch was also revealed but had no corresponding cropmark. These have been assigned a broad late medieval to post-medieval date based on finds of pottery and ceramic building material from their fills. Three trenches on the eastern side of the site targeted a large circular cropmark, recorded on the HER as a potential barrow. This proved to be a large depression, most probably a natural feature, which contained modern finds within its infill. Two additional trenches also revealed depressions, again potentially natural features. There is also the possibility that some or all these depressions are the result of quarrying, as they lie in close proximity to known quarry pits recorded on historic maps of the site.