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Hockwold is a village in west Norfolk that borders the edge of the Fens. In the Roman period it was a small town and considerably more built up than the open landscape of today would suggest. Archaeological investigations at Hockwold show that it once covered an area of about 13 hectares (32 acres) and had two temple sites. From one of these sites was found a pair of bronze crowns, interpreted as head-gear worn by priests. The originals may now be seen in the British Museum. Because the area of the Roman town is today farmland, it has been popular with metal-detectorists, looking for ancient artefacts. The archaeological importance of parts of the site also means that they are ‘Scheduled’ by English Heritage, protecting them by law. Sadly, a few criminals have used metal-detectors to search for objects on these Scheduled areas. English Heritage therefore granted permission for one trusted individual to carry out a careful, gridded, metal-detector survey of one of the temple sites. His ten years’ work have now taken most of the finds out of the ploughsoil and created a collection, now in Norwich Castle’s collection, that will in time tell us a great deal about this site at Hockwold, and also Roman Norfolk. His many finds were acquired by Norwich Castle with the aid of generous grants from the Friends of Norwich Museums and the Heritage Lottery Fund. |
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