Norfolk, as we all know, is a special place and this was confirmed during Tuesday evening’s presentation. David Robertson is the co-author of “A History of Norfolk in 100 Places”. Five sites were presented to us this evening, they are all open to the public at certain times, with convenient car parking.
The first ‘Happisburgh Beach’. In 2000, a Palaeolithic hand axe was discovered in what is known as the Cromer Forest Bed deposits, becoming a significant find resulting in the detection of the earliest humans in Northern Europe, which led to archaeologists exploring the site for over twenty years. Within this time, over 200 artefacts were recovered. In May 2013, coastal erosion exposed hollows which appeared to be human footprints, 49 were identified and photographed before the sea claimed them forever. This period in history is from one million to ten million years ago.
The next site is ‘Lynford Lakes’, which are near Thetford. During archaeological investigations at an in-filled river channel, a quantity of tools indicated that this is the most important Neanderthal site so far discovered in Britain. The types of axes recovered would suggest that skilled flint-knappers were at work here. More than 2000 animal bones were found with over 1000 being identified as mammoth. Red fox, wolf, brown bear, woolly rhinoceros were amongst many other species identified. This period in history is from 60,000 years ago. The riverside location obviously suited many animal species including humans.
Up to the North Norfolk coast next to Holme-Next-The-Sea where in 1998 Seahenge was reported and excavated by the Norfolk Archaeological Unit, (which no longer exists), but Seahenge does. In 2049 BC, 30 mighty oak trees were felled. The stump of the largest tree was placed upside down and a palisade of 56 timbers surrounded the central stump. Approximately 100 metres to the east, a second ‘sister’ circle was built, slightly differently and 4 times larger than the inside of Seahenge. Analysis of the rings shows that the trees were felled in the spring and summer of 2049 BC. The palisade’s from Seahenge are now displayed in Lynn Museum.
We next visited the deserted village of Godwick, which is near Fakenham. It was plain to see, from the drone footage we were shown, that the earthworks showing roads and where once buildings stood with the remains of the church was indicative of a small medieval village with fewer than ten households in 1428. In 1596, a map of Godwick shows three houses remaining. The ground was difficult to cultivate with heavy wet soil, and the Black Death would not have been conducive for poor folk trying to eke out an existence. By the 1590s the Drury family built a large house. Sir Edward Coke purchased the ‘Old Hall’ and lived here until he inherited Holkham Manor.
Our final visit was to Hethel Airfield Chapel. Between 1942-45 this was home to the American air force. A group of buildings have been restored as a memorial and museum to the 389th Bomb Group, displays include uniforms, photographs, combat records and artefacts, the chapel includes a Second World War painting of Christ.
This was by definition an interesting evening drawing us into the historic value of the county of Norfolk.