Norwich Western Link

Between May and July 2022 Oxford Archaeology East undertook a programme of evaluation trenching along the route of the proposed Norwich Western Link, Norfolk. A total of 246 trial trenches of the planned 277 trenches were excavated within 22 fields (fields TT01‐TT20 and TT22‐TT23), many of which
were targeted on cropmarks and geophysical anomalies. The northern end of the route was located in the parish of Attlebridge (TG 14831 15599), while the southern end of the route was in Honingham parish (TG 09790 12547). The
proposed route ran south‐west from Attlebridge in the River Wensum Valley across a broad ridge towards the River Tud. The evaluation uncovered evidence of Iron Age, Romano‐British, medieval, and post‐medieval activity.
Evidence for Neolithic and Bronze Age activity was limited to scattered finds of worked flint but small numbers of features associated with Iron Age pottery were found in several areas in the southern and northern parts of the
evaluated area (TT05, TT07/08 and TT20).
Evidence for Romano‐British activity/land‐use was revealed in two fields in the southern part of the evaluated area (TT07 and TT10) and in one field to the north (TT20) and was characterised by ditches relating to field systems and
possible enclosures associated with small quantities of Roman pottery.
An extensive area of medieval settlement, previously known from cropmarks, was revealed by the trenching in field TT05, in the southern part of the evaluated area. This consisted of a complex of rectilinear enclosures and associated boundary/field system ditches associated with pottery dating to the 12th to 13th centuries AD.