Monument record WRW 003 - Wordwell medieval settlement remains

Deserted medieval village, just East of All Saints church with Med pottery sherds. Ploughed out about 1970 (S1)(S12)(S13).

Pottery scatters located by Myrtle Taylor during fieldwalking survey - details in (S2)(S3).
Documentary research carried out by Clive Paine, Suffolk Records Office (details unknown).
Also Roman.

2010-2011: Magnetometer survey showed a number of field boundaries, trackways and pits are still visible despite damage to the site from heavy ploughing. There is a concentration of disturbance opposite the Church to the East- this correlates with the known position of the medieval crofts and ends at the line representing the hedgerow that existed behind the settlement area of the DMV and was removed in the 1970s. A particularly notable feature is an area which shows up lighter on the 1880 OS map and is labeled as a pit; due to the signal received I believe that this was in fact a shepherd’s cottage, recorded by Tom Martin in 1757 as the sole building other than the Church and Manor. It is interesting to note that the field boundaries and track ways do not align with the modern road; it is possible that there was an older road present in Medieval times, and this is possible shown crossing the East side of the field (S10).
A sudy of documents, fieldwalking results, aerial photos and a magnetometer survey reveals evidence for Late Saxon settlement, likely to have been linked with the nearby site of West Stow, and indicates that this may then have led to continuous settlement into the medieval period, before two periods of sharp settlement decline, 1327 and c.1650. The site would have been largely self-sufficient in the medieval period and yet shows good connections with the surrounding area, with much of its wealth originating in the wool trade, and would have been of some importance in this region (S11).

October 2019. Breckland National Mapping Programme.
Earthwork banks, ditches and pits most likely relating to medieval settlement remains are seen on aerial photographs and visualised lidar data (S4-S8). The majority of the features most likely relate to medieval field and property boundaries (such as the banks and ditches centred at TL 8272 7194 and at TL 8286 7213), pits, two possible enclosures (centred at TL8256 7239 and at TL 8246 7269), medieval and post medieval drainage, medieval trackways and two embanked trackways (centred at TL 8280 7173 and at TL 8263 7184). It is possible some of the banks (centred at TL 8235 7283 and TL 8270 7220) may relate to post medieval boundaries and trackways seen on the Frist Edition Ordnance Survey map (S9). It is also possible that some of the banks and ditches may relate to modern drainage. In the west of the site there is an area of possible low ridges (centred at TL 8220 7232) which may have related to medieval ridge and furrow; However, the ridges may also relate to geological features or modern tree planting. The medieval settlement remains are in close proximity to two possible Roman enclosures (WSW 039) and a possible Bronze Age Ring Ditch (WRW 097) to the east. A possible post medieval Osier bed (WRW 019) has been mapped in the in the north of the site. Medieval pottery scatters (WRW 004, WRW 005, WRW 011, WRW 012, WRW 013) have been recovered in close proximity to the possible settlement remains which may support a medieval date for the features. The features can be seen as earthworks in the 1940s and have mostly been levelled by the 1970s with some of the banks and ditches surviving as earthworks on the visualised lidar data (S8).
J.Powell (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 31st October 2019.