Chapter 1 archaeology.indd

A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth

sand that Yarmouth is built on is part of the Devensian

deposit. It is not a sea thrown sandbank. It has become

thicker over the last two millennia, partly due to wind

blown deposition but mainly due to man made soil

importation during that period. Most of the layers

found in the sewer trench at Nottingham way were

man made. There is some wind blown sand, but almost

the whole of the four metre depth excavated, is of

imported soil.

The pit at the west side of South Quay showed a deposit

of blue-black clay, that seems to have been deliberately

placed to contain the river bank. I was not permitted

down into the pit, but there were clearly deﬁned glacial

strata in the pit and at the bottom of the pipe trench at

5 metres depth.

At the bottom of the pipe trench, the whole way

along Nottingham Way was a perfectly undisturbed

glacial golden deposit in fine stratification, as found

at Gorleston cliffs and in the cut for the new road, all

showing how there is a continuous glacial sand deposit

from Corton, though Caister and beyond.

Glacial strata

The picture, below left, shows detail of glacial sand

and gravel layering in the Bridge Road, Gorleston

underpass. The sand was smoothly and evenly

deposited in continuous sheets as the ice melted. The

same pattern of continuous unbroken banding was

found in the bottom of the pipe trench at Nottingham

Way. The sand under Yarmouth was laid down in the

ice ages, and was not broken up by incursions of

the sea. These findings of November 1993 make the

establishment of an early (prehistoric) settlement at

Yarmouth entirely possible.

The “Greasy

Spoon” see

page 32.

Below is the

pedestrian

underpass under

construction.

Gorleston Cliff, 1987.

A series of posts supporting the quayside were found

underneath the trench being dug for the new sewer

along the South Quay. The tops of these posts were

found 2.1 metres below current ground level. This

indicates a sea level at least that much below the

present, since in times of flood the sea comes over

the quay, even with the modern sea defences. These

posts appear to be in the same run (line) as were found

under the Town Hall and at The “Dukes Head”. The

timbers of a boat found in the pipe trench on South

Quay were submitted for dating by dendrochronology

(tree rings) but could not be dated by this means. Also

unsuitable were the timber posts just mentioned. The

boat however has been compared to others of similar

type and said to be “early Saxon” [v] This boat being

well above the timbers, and in the upper fill, means that

the bank timbers are of a date at least early Saxon, or

even older. The boat, of lapped timber construction, was

impossible to date by dendrochronological methods,

but the type of construction of the boat placed it

as being of a mid-Saxon period. Further along the

quayside a deep pit was later dug to allow the pipe to

be bored under the road without disturbing the traffic.

The pit on the quayside revealed a discrete deposit of

blue clay, which effectively contains the flow of the

river. This was only found beside the river, and not

further away as the trench proceeded into the town.

Interestingly, a similar clay deposit was identified

many years previously on the opposite bank of the

river by P.E.Rumbelow at Fellowe’s dock.

Since the sea post Devensian ice age has never been

significantly higher than it is now, other than at times

of flood, there never was a great estuary open to the

sea as was formerly thought. Breydon water, as now,

was subject to the tide, and to occasional flood. The

23

The Revised History of Great Yarmouth

Chap-

ter One

Geology

and Ar-

chaeol-

Many animals were kept within the town walls in me-

dieval times. This may have been particularly encour-

aged as part of the town’s defences, but was common

practice as a ready means of provision of fresh food at

a time when there was no domestic refrigeration. There

are many animal bones under the Market Place, and a

large quantity of bone was found in the pipe trench at

the west end of St.Peter’s Road.

Geology

and

Archaeology

Ref viii

Detail of glacial strata.

It is evident from the aerial photos that the whole of

the surrounding area was quite densely populated and

productive arable land before the Roman invasion, and

when the Romans came, they took over a previously

settled area of some significance. Britain was an exporter

of grain to the continent before the Roman invasion.

The land around Yarmouth was intensely cultivated, and

must have been involved in the grain export trade.

At

Gorleston

in the cliff,

there are

two lines

of ﬂint

laid down

as glacial

out-wash

on top of

the sand.

Caesar, in his “Conquest of Gaul” Ref ix does not refer

to his expedition to Britain in 55 B.C., as having any

specific economic purpose. It certainly was known

to the Romans that Britain was a prosperous place.

The local grain supplies would have been essential to

the Roman army. This I suggest as reason enough for

the two forts, and so it may be for much of the Saxon

Shore fort system, protection for the Roman army’s

food supply.

It seems to me that Yarmouth itself could have become

a settlement during the Roman period. Long after the

Roman conquest there was a large wooden town on the

Yarmouth site that was totally destroyed by the invading

Vikings, led most likely by Swein or Thorkill. [x] The

remnants of this large wooden Saxon settlement has

been seen by Percy Trett at Hall Quay and Rogerson

at Fuller’s Hill. In January 1994, a layer containing

burned straw and wood was uncovered in the bottom

of the pipe trench in Nottingham Way, that may well

be continuous with the burned layer found at Hall

Quay, Crown Buildings and Fuller’s Hill. This seems

to represent a substantial wooden town, burned down

in its entirety at around 1000 A.D., just before the Nor-

man Conquest. Carbon dating at Fuller’s Hill showed a

date for the fire of A.D.940 -1060, if this is indeed the

same fire. A town of such size, equal it seems to the

medieval town, must surely have been in existence for

some centuries before it was consumed with fire. The

Saxon town probably had a ditch and wooden pallisade

around it. Although Roman roof tile remnants have been

found at various sites with some ease considering the

small excavation sites, nothing like this was found at

Nottingham Way, Fuller’s Hill or the Hall Quay. The

Roman remains seem limited to small areas and could

have been reused from the forts, or may represent just

a few permanent buildings within the site.

This photo was taken at the edge of the “river

feature”, the point at which the glacial melt stream

ran in over what is now a cliff. The uninterrupted

ﬂint line is clearly seen.

About the Gorleston Cliffs

The rootlet bed at Corton, Rumbelow’s Diary About the Gorleston Bypass

24

Chapter

One

A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth

Sand blowing into the town from the beach.

When did the rise in sea level to that at present occur?

If we believe Ayers and Murphy, then there was a rising

of the sea level by about 1 metre sometime around

1000 years ago. For the sea to be a full 3 metres lower

implies a date considerably earlier. Interestingly, it is

now thought that the Thames at Roman

London was not tidal, since there has been

found an ancient yew forest on marshes

below Dagenham, and yew does not like

either damp or saline conditions. [vi] The

height of the sea at Roman London was 15

feet lower then. [vii] As far as the previous

rise of 1 metre is concerned, we should

note the evidence of archaeological

excavations at Feddersen Wierde, on the

Weser. There was a large settlement there

which was abandoned in about 450 A.D.,

apparently due to rising sea levels. The

interesting thing then is that Yarmouth

appears to have survived this flooding

- how could this be? To be above the

range of the tides, Roman London must have been

well inland. The same must be true of Yarmouth.

Furthermore, those sea level rises were much more

dramatic than those now being noticed.

Layers of sand between layers of mud are easily seen

in the trench on South Quay, which shows clearly

that the sea and land surface from ice age times at

Yarmouth, were several metres lower. This contrasts

sharply with the land surface at Gorleston golf course,

where the edge of the sand cliffs shows no build up

of sand or mud over the glacial deposit. This could

easily be just a result of efforts to reinforce the river

bank, but the huge build up of sand and soil layers is

found right across the town, from river to wall.

Crown Buildings on Yarmouth Way house the

Department of Social Security Ofﬁces. (1987) The

burned layer was found in the foundation trench here

in 1971. Ref ii

This tremendous quantity of sand and imported soil has

buried the ancient settlement which now lies so many

feet below the surface that it is almost impossible to

find. The likelihood is that the townspeople even in

recent centuries were keen to rebuild their dwellings

at ever higher and higher levels, rather than face the

risk of flood. It can be seen from what excavation

data there is, that soil (millions of tons of mud)

was imported in great quantities on top of layers of

sand, presumably to stabilise the land surface, but

also because the inhabitants kept animals within the

town. The depths of various layers are different in the

north and south of the town. It seems that there was

much more sand at Fuller’s Hill, whereas the trench at

Nottingham Way showed nearly all imported earth.

This is the sole remnant of the ancient street of

Fuller’s Hill that was full of ﬁne medieval buildings

until demolished wholesale in 1971 for road

improvements. Burned material found at Fuller’s Hill

in 1976 was carbon dated to the time of the Viking

Invasion.

The photo top left, dating from about 1935 shows how

the wind blows the sand across any small obstruction,

to settle in the town. Some of the sand may therefore

be wind blown, but most was deliberately introduced

- an easily available material to raise the land further

before bringing in the mud that would have to be

carried from further away. The town wall is too high

to expect that much sand to blow over it.

25

The Revised History of Great Yarmouth

Chap-

ter One

Geology

and Ar-

chaeol-

In 1956 Charles Green conducted a dig, over a

mere two days, inside and outside of the town wall

at Alexandra Road. There was a detailed report in

“Norfolk Archaeology.” [xi] Inside the town wall

at 11 feet below ground, he found Roman tiles, both

tegulae and imbrices (interlocking tiles that fit over

each other), and a single sherd of fourth century

grey ware. Outside the wall he found a dark layer of

soil, and the wall was seen to have been built upon

a flagstone base. He did not report on the nature of

the outside of the wall below ground. This would

have been most interesting, since above ground the

wall here is cut-flint faced rather than rough, and a

clear indication of the original ground level at the

time of building the wall could have been gained,

but this opportunity was lost. Ref xi

Geology

and

Archaeology

George Rye at

Blackfriars,

skull and stone

pillar from the

monastery.

In 1974, George Rye and Percy Trett excavated the

Blackfriars Church, which was discovered at the site

of the new fire station at Friars Lane (TG52500680).

This excavation was largely carried out by mechani-

cal digger. Rye had little time to record details as the

work progressed uninterrupted. A report appeared

in Norfolk Archaeology [xii] . Of interest were eight

stone coffins at a depth unstated, (but possibly some-

what below 8 OD which is the only measure given)

underneath which was found a single unabraided

Roman sherd, black burnished ware of 2nd century.

Again the point must now be made that the ground

here was formed by the ice age melt, and this sherd

therefore has great significance. Ref xii

Andrew Rogerson of Norfolk Archaeology in a hole

at the Market Place, 1993.

The photograph middle left, February 1993, shows

Andrew Rogerson in a hole dug for the concrete

stands for the permanent market stalls in the Market

Place. (Rogerson was the Norfolk archaeologist in

charge of the Fuller’s Hill excavations) Some 12 th

century pottery potsherds were at this level in the

Market Place. The workmen also found animal bones

which I showed to Percy Trett, who identified the

jawbone of a small horse.

Boreholes outside the north-west tower, on the site

of the new magistrate’s court in 1992, have shown

an area of silt below the windblown sand, and on

top of the glacial deposit, that could represent either

an early river channel, or possibly an old moat, now

filled in. Here there was found some timber at a three

metre depth in a new drainage trench. The timber

was only partly removed by a mechanical digger.

It was not properly examined, although thought by

the site foreman to have been part of the keel of a

wooden boat. Unfortunately I only found out about

this after the event, and no-one contacted the Norfolk

Archaeology Team. I did interview the foreman and

his men, but they had aready concreted over the

pathway. This site should one day be investigated

further when the opportunity arises.

Site of

Power

station, now.

The Elizabethan map shows the sixth and seventh

havens or channels cut from the river to the sea.

Charles Green excavated at the power station site, which

is where the sixth haven can be seen on this map.

The Elizabethan maps

26

Chapter

One

A New Perlustration of Great Yarmouth

Some excavation took place on the South Denes for the

building of the power station in 1954, and was reported

on by Green, who described wind-blown sand, beach

deposits, a silt layer, silty sand, and basal red beds. He

drew attention to a deposit of barnacles in one part.

He was unaware, it seems, of the process of glacial

deposition, and certainly unaware that there had been

a lower land/sea interface at the previous interglacial

period, at which time the deposit of barnacles may

well have arisen, but to me the most likely answer is

that this was the site of the sixth haven - it appears so

from inspection of the Elizabethan map. Some new

work on all of the above sites is clearly required.

Screw piling at

Regent Road.

In the book “The Making of the Broads” there is a

description of a borehole at Queens Road, where a

mixture of sand and gravel was found. This appears

to be the same as the material pulled up from a depth

of 18 metres by the screw piling machine on Regent

Road in 1992. This showed sand and gravel to its

full depth, although a screw pile inevitably churns

the material as it brings it up, so not much can be

inferred. No vegetable or animal remains were seen,

nor any earth.

In the stone age landscape, perhaps 5-8,000 years ago,

there was an intensely settled, and well marked out

landscape of small settlements and established well

defined trackways. Burials generally took place in or

beside circular barrows, so possibly some of the circles

noted in the aerial photos and marked on the scale plan,

were “henge” sites, where religious ceremonies and

burials, even sacrifices may have taken place.

South Denes Power

Station

The Regent Road screw

piling machine, 11th

February 1993.

Cremation urns, and a fourth century Roman coin,

were found at Runham Vauxhall in brick earth in 1879.

As they then thought that this was below sea level,

this could not be explained. It was thought that the

sea level had been higher, whereas recent evidence

from London shows that it was then much lower. The

above is one of several instances of Roman artifacts

being found in an area that was said not to have existed

before a thousand years ago (erroneously thought to

have been under the sea).

On the left is an aerial photo of land east of Browston

Hall, showing a possible ring ditch, and associated

trackways and some rectanglar features. There are

similar crop-marks on high ground at Cantley, that

are thought by Derek Edwards [xiii] to represent a

Roman Villa site, although once again, there has been

no archaeological investigation. The Browston site is

currently thought most likely to have been an Eliza-

bethan garden. Comparison with the Roman Temples

excavated by “Time Team” at Friar’s Wash, west of

Harpenden, and north of St Albans, make further

investigation highly desirable.

Rumbelow and trackways near Browston

Left - Aerial photo of Browston Hall 1976, D Edwards,

copyright Norfolk Aerial photo unit, Gressenhall.

27