Norfolk’s coast holds a rich resource of archaeological sites. In this illustrated talk David Robertson will use over 20 years of research to explore the full range. He will start with the deep history of footprints and stone tools at Happisburgh, pass through Bronze Age timber circles, Roman forts, lost medieval villages and post medieval ports, to finish with 20^th-century military remains.

David Robertson

The results presented here concern an intensive fieldwalking survey by the author of one civil parish, Fransham, formerly the two ecclesiastical parishes of Great and Little Fransham, lying near the western edge of the Boulder Clay plateau in rural Norfolk. To set the archaeological evidence for the medieval and post-medieval periods into their agrarian, manorial and tenurial contexts, exhaustive use was made of a fairly rich body of available documentary sources.

Andrew Rogerson (retired Senior Landscape Archaeologist, Norfolk CC)

This has been initiated by Cley Parish Council. Since last June it has been possible to do the walk, starting at the village hall and ending at the church, on a mobile phone passing 30 highlighted features in the village. The BAHS talk introduces a flavour of the walk.

Richard Jefferson

The RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Centre tells the stories of the 1st USAF Atomic base outside of America and the only atomic USAF base in Norfolk. It was the largest USAF base during the fifties, being on the front line of the atomic deterrent against the Soviet Union for a decade. At one point the base had over 10,000 personnel stationed on base.

Ian Brown, RSHC Curator

Tuesday 31st October 2023 at 2:30pm

Cley Village Hall

Religion and the Iceni: new excavations at the Roman temple at Caistor-by-Norwich

While many people are familiar with the site of the Roman town at Venta Icenorum, few are aware of the huge Roman temple complex that lies around 800 m to the north-east of the town. This talk will introduce the results of new research at the temple by the Caistor Roman Project, which has shown that the site has a long and complex history that included the construction of the largest Roman temple building in the region. The research suggests that the temple was a religious focal point in the landscape from the Iron Age onwards and has shed further light on the religious practice of the Iceni.

Will Bowden, Professor of Roman Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of Nottingham

Please note this talk will not be on Zoom.

Tuesday 28th November 2023 at 2:30pm

Cley Village Hall

Sir John Fastolf: Our Norfolk Knight
Followed by the AGM

In 1429, Sir John was to cross paths with Joan of Arc, and what were those dubious connections to Sir John Falstaff, the fictional character who appears in three of Shakespeare’s plays? Dale will look at the factual legacy of Sir John Fastolf, and his Norfolk roots.

Dale Wiseman

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