EAA 185, 2025: The Norwich Heathland: Bronze Age settlement and later industry along the Broadland Northway

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In 2016, Oxford Archaeology undertook excavations along the 20km route of the Norwich Northern Distributor Route (now renamed as the A1270 Broadland Northway) in a series of nineteen discrete areas targeting sites of archaeological significance. Lying on undulating ground to the north and east of Norwich, the area has been farmland or pasture throughout the modern period, except for land that formed part of Rackheath Airfield during the Second World War. The project’s environs have varied topography and geology, with vast swathes of acid heathland. The lush valley of the River Wensum lies to the south and west of the route, with tributaries of the River Bure to the north.

The key discovery of the project – which forms the main focus of this volume – was an impressive and well-preserved Middle Bronze Age settlement found at Bell Farm, Horsford. Originating as a large enclosure with associated post alignments, it developed to include a major rectilinear field and paddock system. Settlement was attested by the presence of numerous post-built roundhouses. The remains are a relatively rare survival in the region and are the first of their type and scale to have been excavated in Norfolk, thereby taking on national significance. Other evidence is considered in synthetic form in this report, ranging from traces of Neolithic activity to Anglo-Saxon pits that were used to produce bushels of charcoal of a type often used in smelting iron. The latter activity was focused in the parishes of Rackheath, Beeston St Andrew and Sprowston. Medieval remains included roadside enclosures and possible features associated with a deer park near Rackheath. Nearby, the crash site of a Second World War American Mustang – the Ellie May – was found.

Full reference:

Phillips, T., 2025, The Norwich Heathland: Bronze Age settlement and later industry along the Broadland Northway, East Anglian Archaeology 185

A4, 126pp

ISBN 13 978 1 907588 17 4