Monument record FRK 220 - Desk based assessment at Red Lodge (King's Warren)

2002: A desk based assessment was undertaken of a large area on the east side of Red Lodge. The remains of a ploughed out Bronze Age Barrow (FRK 008) were present in the south portion of the site. Other Barrows are present in this generally low-lying area between the rivers Kennett and Lark. Chance finds suggest that a Roman villa was located near the river Lark to the north. There was little evidence for any Anglo Saxon activity in the immediate vicinity. From the 13th century onwards this open heath was use as a warren. Three square banked enclosures, probably related to rabbit rearing or growing fodder are located west of the site. Cartographic evidence indicates that the assessment site was used as open heathland for sheep grazing or rabbit rearing and hunting until Enclosure in 1824. Hundred Acre Farm was established after this time. Any archaeological remains are likely to have been distributed by rabbit burrowing, tree plantation and recent ploughing, and the Bronze Age barrow has suffered plough damage. (S1)

2006:The desk-based assessment highlighted the moderate potential for archaeological remains from the prehistoric, specifically Bronze Age, period. A number of barrows and barrow sites are known in the immediate and wider area, one potentially on the actual site (FRK 008). Other prehistoric spot finds and scatters suggest transitory activity during this time. The Iron Age through to Saxon era saw relatively little activity, and although the wider area saw some activity in the medieval period, Red Lodge was not extensively settled until the modern period. However the lack of archaeological investigations in the general area may be a primary reason for gaps in the archaeological record. Red Lodge originated as an inn on the Turnpike Road from Newmarket to Thetford. It was not considered a village until it was made a civil parish in 1987, having previously fallen within the parish of Freckenham. Hundred Acre Farm, which has 19th century origins, is the only other pre-20th century building in the village and appears to have had no precursors. Use of the land for warrens and agricultural purposes in the last 300 years would have caused minor damage to any deep archaeological remains, although the shallow subsoils and any archaeology therein would have suffered greatly (S2).