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The Norfolk Archaeological & Historical Research Group
Norfolk Archaeological & Historical Research Group N.A.H.R.G. Text Box: Hempnall in the Roman Period Maureen P. Cubitt Hempnall lies in the north-east corner of the Hundred of Depwade in south Norfolk, about ten miles south of Norwich at the source of the River Tas. The soil is heavy chalky boulder clay over gravel with rich alluvium near the many streams that have their source here. Using estate maps from the 18th and 19th century together with the Tithe map of 1842, the sites of woodland have been plotted from copyhold records of ancient field names from the 14th century. Names containing frith, reading and rode across the north of the parish indicate the earliest woods. It seems likely that this woodland was thinned, becoming wood-pasture from an early period. The barrow fields, in the north, for example, would never have been in dense woodland. (Fig 1) Two farmsteads were constructed in the Roman fashion and occupied from the second to the fourth centuries. The rectilinear fields adjoining these buildings appear to be fossilized by their association with ancient woodland. Moreover they are parallel with the Roman road from Venta Icenorum to Colchester. In addition, there remains another parallel road from Hempnall to Fritton common that appears to dissect a square of land. (Fig 2) The largest of the farmsteads in Hempnall was constructed on heavy chalky boulder clay close to the site of the present village centre. Artefacts include pieces of amphora, samian ware, a lead steelyard weight and a restamped Roman denarias with types of Mark Anthony and Marcus Auralius. One side shows the eagle standard of the Twentieth Legion, the other, a Roman galley. Pottery sherds have been found scattered where the farmsteads once stood and little is spread about the fields with the manure, as would have happened if they were concentrating on arable farming. The land provided good pastures and meadows so perhaps they were operating a cattle rearing business supplying meat to the town of Venta Icenorum. Indeed, many years later, Hempnall was unusual by rendering six cows as part of the Domesday tax. The owners of the farms must have required a considerable workforce. Dr.Tom Williamson in ‘Shaping Medieval Landscapes Settlement, Society, Environment’, argues that successful cultivation of heavy soil and hay cutting, both require access to a labour force at short notice. This argument applies to any period. The area of the present day village centre would have met the requirements and would have been suitable for enclosing. Hempnall Street heads west from the village along a possible causeway towards the highest navigable point. (Fig 3) To the east of this enclosure, a burial place for cremated remains was established in a field now called The Walls. Over forty urns, each about twelve inches in height were buried at regular distances of ten to twelve feet in rows running from north to south. They contained a mixture of bones, wood, ashes and pieces of pottery. Most were of coarse manufacture. A few feet outside the southern limit of the deposits of urns, a mass of black soil and a number of fragments of dark pottery of a superior character, some with a distinct flange and apparently turned, were unearthed. These were identified at the time as Romano-British. None of these urns has apparently survived, so modern identification cannot be applied. They were buried between twelve to eighteen inches beneath the surface in an orderly, that is, Roman fashion. (Fig 4) Main Roman roads had been built shortly after the invasion in AD 43, the building of minor roads continued as part of the subjugation and military advance. Samuel Woodward, an historian particularly interested in Roman roads, recorded the existence of a ‘massive’ Roman road going through Hempnall. This is likely to be that shown as Roman on Faden’s 1797 map of Norfolk. An encroachment in 1683 confirms that this highway had been at least six feet wider close to the village. Allotments made along the south side at the Inclosure of 1818, shrank the road to its present width. Road Green, at the east of the parish, was still unfenced until 1818; an obvious place where traces of this ancient route might have remained. From Bungay towards the Roman road from Venta Incenorum to Colchester this route would need to cross the River Tas. There is evidence of a bridge from the medieval period at the boundary with Fritton; this is the most likely crossing place. Text Box: Q61 INDEX