NCAG Summer Excavation 2008 In August 2008, The Norton Archaeology Group will be conducting their summer excavation under the direction Of Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews (NHDC Archaeology Officer). It will take place in Church Field, Norton, Letchworth. Background A survey of the earthworks in Church Field (HER 4203), situated directly to the north-east of the churchyard, was carried out in December 1985 by the North Herts Museum Service Field Archaeology Section. This revealed two or three abandoned village streets and several probable house platforms as well as more enigmatic features. The quality of the earthworks and their proximity to the church suggests that they represent parts of the village abandoned before the line of Norton Road was established on its present, more north-westerly line, at a date between c 1700 and 1750. Two geophysical surveys carried out by the Group (in April 2007 and October 2007, in conjunction with the Welwyn Archaeological Society) have suggested the locations of archaeological anomalies that correspond to the earthworks and others in areas where no earthworks have been recorded. Several of these anomalies will be investigated in the proposed excavation. Approach & Objectives A single trench has been positioned to sample the hollow way from Norton to Nortonbury close to its junction with the former Stotfold to Baldock road and to sample a rectangular building platform at the south-west corner of the junction. This excavation in Church Field has potential to contribute the following data to an understanding of the historic village of Norton: ·It is anticipated that the excavation will help us find out more about the nature of the medieval settlement, its origins, character and layout. ·The date of abandonment may relate to other documented episodes of abandonment elsewhere in the parish, which may suggest reasons for the apparent depopulation of Norton. ·The 1985 survey of the field showed the presence and layout of hollow ways and house platforms without being able to date their use and abandonment. ·The hollow ways do not show as trackways on maps dating after the middle of the eighteenth century and appear to follow the same alignments as Romano-British linear features found during archaeological work at St Nicholas JMI school to the south-south-west. They may therefore give information about long-term landscape continuity.
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