EAA 167, 2018: A Romano-British Industrial Site at East Winch, Norfolk

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Excavations at East Winch on the Greensand Belt in north-west Norfolk, revealed a Romano-British pottery production site — part of the Nar Valley industry — as well as more limited evidence of iron smelting and possible habitation. The principal features were a trackway, potentially linking the site to the nearby iron smelting site at Ashwicken, and part of a ditched enclosure containing an aisled building, a stone-founded workshop, four Nar Valley kilns and a drying oven.

The pottery assemblage adds considerably to our understanding of this industry. Of principal importance is the occurrence within the assemblage of tightly dated imports which assist in developing a chronology for the Nar Valley industry. Archaeomagnetic dating of one of the kilns indicated a last firing at some point between AD 200 and 250.

A decline in pottery production in the later Roman period seems to have coincided with a renewed emphasis on iron smelting nearby and the disposal of quantities of tap slag on site.

Full reference:

Lally, M., Nicholson, K., Peachey, A., O’Brien, L. and Newton, A., 2018, A Romano-British Industrial Site at East Winch, Norfolk, East Anglian Archaeology 167

A4, 110pp

ISBN 978 0 9932477 3 6