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Excavation in 1987 at the site of this church revealed much of the graveyard, which had been in use from the 12th to the 15th century. Remains of over 1000 individuals were removed archaeologically from the cemetery. Of these, 436 were articulated individuals, the rest being represented as charnel. Remains of 413 individuals were complete enough to merit detailed examination and analysis, and this report is concerned with the palaeopathology of these burials.
The analysis of the human remains produced dramatic and unprecedented results in the field of epidemiology, including an important early group of six cases of treponemal disease. A classic example of Paget’s disease and possibly a rare form of chondrodysplasia (dwarfism) have also been identified, as well as a wide range of other pathology.
The earliest documentary reference to the church occurs in 1254, and includes the comment ubi sepeliuntur suspensi (‘where those who were hanged are buried’). Burial ceased when the church became redundant in 1468, and the parish was amalgamated with All Saints to the south.

During the construction of Ormesby bypass in east Norfolk, human bones were found by the contractors. Excavation revealed that these were not isolated burials but part of a cemetery. Sixty articulated burials were excavated which, along with unstratified bones, represented a minimum of forty-five adults and seventeen children. A date range of 11th–14th centuries has been suggested by radiocarbon determinations which were calibrated with consideration of the marine protein component of the diet of the individuals. Demographic, metrical, morphological, dental and pathological aspects of the population have also been studied, and compared with other contemporary Norfolk groups. Demographic analysis suggests a trend towards death in old age amongst the men and in young adult life for the women. Metrical analysis showed a similarity with medieval groups in Norfolk, and non-metric traits suggested a close affinity with people from a nearby Saxon cemetery and a medieval group from Norwich.

Ormesby had four churches during the medieval period: the locations of three (St Margaret, St Michael and St Peter) were known, and the location of the fourth (St Andrew) suggested, prior to this excavation. None of these were adjacent to the burials. Consideration of the archaeological evidence along with aerial photographs, cartographic and secondary documentary evidence allows an alternative location to be suggested for the church of St Andrew, adjacent to the burials.

Excavations at Bloodmoor Hill by the CAU revealed a well-preserved and almost complete early Anglo-Saxon settlement, dating from the 6th to early 8th centuries AD, and a mid to late 7th-century cemetery, which lay within the settlement itself and included high-status female graves. The total excavated area exceeded 30,000sq m, and produced the remains of thirty-eight structures associated with sunken features (Grubenhäuser or SFBs), at least nine well-defined post-buildings (including one post-in-trench), four extensive ‘midden’ heaps or surface spread concentrations, and approximately 270 pits, as well as five hearth or oven bases. The site is remarkable for the amount of metalworking debris in evidence: over 160kg of metalworking slag, including hearth bottoms, crucibles and moulds, together with extensive collections of apparently scrap metal, which was found in concentrations indicative of distinct industrial areas. The site also produced large assemblages of Anglo-Saxon pottery, fired clay, animal bone and other materials. The structures and other features from the site are fully described, and the finds assemblages analysed by category, in order to characterise the status and nature of the settlement and its associated activities. The excavation methodology employed, whereby a proportion of features, including the surface deposits, were dug in spits and metre-squares, has enabled a detailed analysis of artefactual and soil movement across the site through time. Thus, the formation and growth of surface deposits, and the collection and dispersion of rubbish deposits from surface to subsoil feature, are outlined through a series of distribution plots. The end result is a multi-faceted study of one of the most complete early Anglo-Saxon settlements yet to be excavated, which concludes that the settlement may have been an early form of estate centre with associated high-status burial and industrial activity.

In the 1980s work began on construction of the vast underground Castle Mall shopping centre in Norwich. The associated archaeological excavation was one of the largest of its kind in northern Europe, designed to investigate not only the castle bailey but also pre-Conquest settlement and, for the post-Conquest period, areas of the surrounding medieval city. The report describes evidence for late Saxon streets, houses and graveyards; the developing fortifications of an urban castle established before 1100; gradual encroachment by the townspeople into the castle precinct after the 13th century; documentation relating to the ownership and development of properties within the Castle Fee; crafts and industries associated with these plots — notably bell-founding; a late medieval assemblage of great significance from the barbican well including ironwork, leather waste, bird and animal bone; and sizeable finds assemblages resulting from the steady infilling of castle ditches with domestic and commercial refuse.

EAA Occasional Paper 22 Norwich Castle: Excavations and Historical Survey 1987–98
Part III A Zooarchaeological Study
by Umberto Albarella, Mark Beech, Julie Curl, Alison Locker, Marta Moreno García and Jacqui Mulville
ISBN 978 0 905594 50 7; 188pp, 145 illustrations; £20

EAA Occasional Paper 23 Norwich Castle: Excavations and Historical Survey 1987–98
Part IV People and Property in the Documentary Record
by Margot Tillyard, Elizabeth Shepherd Popescu and Nancy Ives
ISBN 978 0 905594 51 4; 62pp, 3 illustrations; £9

Excavations and a watching brief by Northamptonshire Archaeology at St Faith’s Lane uncovered part of a 10th- to 12th-century street frontage comprising incomplete remains of timber structures, pits and ditches. Finds relate to domestic occupation and a metalworking presence that may indicate a nearby forge. In the 13th century, after a period of decline and possible abandonment, the site was incorporated into the precinct of the Franciscan Friary. The Greyfriars soon began burying their dead in a cemetery laid out there, halting only to dig for minerals for a nearby building programme, probably in the 14th century. The burials have an unusual demographic profile which may relate, at least in part, to a Franciscan school of international renown. The site was fully enclosed by a precinct wall in the early 16th century, and after the Dissolution was predominantly garden until redevelopment in the 19th century. Fittingly, the site is now part of a school once more.

Important evidence for occupation spanning the late 1st century (Early Roman) to the 9th century (Middle Saxon) was found by CAM ARC (now Oxford Archaeology East) in 2002.
The initial phase of a Roman farmstead consisted of fragmentary evidence for a ditched field system and livestock enclosures, the layout being altered throughout the Roman period. Barns, trackways, wells and rubbish dumps were also evident, with environmental and artefactual evidence pointing to a predominantly pastoral economy. Both pottery and metalwork imply continuity of settlement at the site from the Roman to the Anglo-Saxon periods.
Early Saxon activity of the 5th–6th centuries is attested by seven sunken-featured buildings, a possible hall, ovens, pits and a contracted (or ‘crouched’) burial. Most of the buildings were deliberately set around a rectangular space, perhaps representing an extended family grouping within a much larger settlement. After a possible hiatus, the site was again used in the Middle Saxon period. The field boundary ditches were replaced by a large enclosure containing a post-hole building and another oven. Metalwork and associated debris in the backfill of an earlier building and nearby pit attest to ferrous working, possibly including steel production, and the gathering of scrap metal for recycling. The site evidently formed part of a Middle Saxon settlement such as a large village, engaged in craft activities and perhaps providing a local market. Its eventual abandonment was probably a result of the defeat of King Edmund at Thetford in 869 and subsequent settlement changes under Danish occupancy.

Forthcoming

In Essex, the Mapping Programme has been carried out by Historic Environment, Essex County Council as part of the English Heritage national initiative. It is part of the continuing development of a broader historic environment record for Essex that includes thematic information. The mapping project covered 190 Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 quarter-sheets and the available aerial photographs from several different sources were examined for visible archaeological features. More than 10,700 archaeological sites have been mapped and recorded, of which 13.2% were new to the Essex Historic Environment Record.
GIS has allowed the mapped archaeological features to be viewed in a landscape context and in conjunction with other geographical information such as geology, topography and historic mapping. This has both aided the interpretation of features and allowed new classifications to be established. Consequently, detailed analysis has been carried out on Neolithic monuments within their surrounding landscapes, as well as an assessment of prehistoric and Roman settlement within Essex.
Many aspects of the medieval landscape still exist in Essex today, and some have been mapped as part of the programme. Field boundary loss that has occurred since the Second World War has also been mapped, and this, combined with settlement patterns, has allowed analysis of the medieval landscape to be completed. Essex is a county with a long and varying coastline and many new coastal sites were mapped, including fish weirs, red hills and oyster pits, all of which have given an insight into the use of the coastal resource. Without the mapping programme, many of these sites would have gone unrecorded and, in some cases, unprotected. Instead, the mapping allowed some fish weir sites to be managed and scheduled.
The final aspect examined in this report concerns the varied monuments of the Second World War, many of which have been recorded and mapped for the first time. Aerial photography is often the only record for these sites and by examining RAF and other contemporary photography, a better understanding of the defences within the county has been gained.

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