Norton Community Archaeology Group was established in 2006 to investigate the archaeology of the historic parish of Norton in Hertfordshire, now part of Letchworth Garden City. Norton has extraordinarily well preserved historical records covering 1000 years of our social history and unspoilt archaeology spanning 10,000 years. The Norton Community Archaeology Group (NCAG) was set up to further our knowledge of the village and surrounding area through practical “hands-on” historical research and archaeological excavations. Participation is currently at no cost to Letchworth residents. Families, schools and individuals are all welcome to join in, whatever your experience and age. We have the rare opportunity to get “hands-on” with our own history and to make many further exciting discoveries.

The historic core of Norton from the air in the summer of 2008

Our website is currently undergoing major redevelopment to allow a more interactive experience for visitors. Please bear with us while the contents of this new version continue to be updated.

We returned to Stapleton’s Field for six weeks from 11 July to have another look at the henge. This time, we have opened up a large area, 40 m by 40 m, which has exposed about a third of the henge. The excavation blog gives a day-by-day account of progress. You can download the Stapletons Field Project Design 2012 to find out more about what we are hoping to achieve.  You can also see the Heritage foundation video about our Summer 2012 dig at YouTube.

Norton Community Archaeology Group has its own channel on Vimeo, where we post video diaries and other video clips to keep people updated on our progress in the field, as well as a Flikr stream of photographs showing the Group’s activities.

• HALH and HRS meetings to be held in Norton in May/June 2013 To mark the impending publication of our book on ‘Manorial Court records’, The Hertfordshire Association for Local History (HALH) and the Hertfordshire Record Society (HRS) have both decided to hold their AGMs in Norton this summer. On Saturday May 11, HALH will host their meeting at St Georges church hall featuring a talk by our translator, ...
• Easter Test Pits Ever wanted to be part of an Archaeological Dig? The Norton Community Archaeology Group (NCAG) is looking for volunteers who would like to take part in our Easter “training dig” 6th to the 9th of April 2012. And then join “the big dig” at the 5000 year old henge, which is of national significance   11th of July to ...
• Experts visit Stapleton’s Field henge On Thursday 5 January, Professor Mike Parker Pearson (University of Sheffield) and Dr Anne Teather (University of Chester) came to visit the site of the henge in Stapleton’s Field. Mike is a leading expert on henges and has conducted recent excavations at both Stonehenge and Durrington Walls in Wiltshire, with the assistance of Anne Teather. ...