Norfolk Boudicca site ‘of national importance’

From EDP 24:

The Boudicca temple

One of the county's most important Iron Age and early Roman sites has been recognised as being of national importance.

The Boudicca Temple site in Fison Way on the outskirts of Thetford has been designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument by the Department for Culture Media and Sport, recognising it as a site of national importance and protecting it from the threat of future development.

Artefacts from the Iron and Roman age were first discovered at the site in 1973 when an aerial photograph recorded the cropmarks of an enclosure, just beside the A11 Thetford Bypass.

Six years later a hoard of gold jewellery and silver spoons dating back to the 4th century AD, was found during the construction of the Travenol Factory on Wyatt Way.

It is thought the treasure may have been associated with a late Roman temple and the god Faunus, a woodland deity.

Norfolk County councillor and cabinet member for culture, Derrick Murphy, said: “Recognition that this site is of national importance is long overdue, and it is really good news for Norfolk and Thetford that after a long and concerted campaign it will now be protected from future development or damage.”

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Iron Age mystery may be solved

From EDP 24. VICTORIA NICHOLLS. Date: 04/06/2009:

Archaeologists will return to a 2,000-year-old site on Beccles marshes this summer in a bid to finally unravel the mystery behind it.

A team of students from Birmingham University will spend three weeks excavating on the iron-age site just outside the town.

Three long rows of wooden posts inserted into the ground were unearthed while flood defence work was being carried out on the marshes in 2006.

The purpose of the timber posts, which have been preserved in excellent condition in peat and run parallel to the river at one point but veer off towards the town across the marshes, has left archaeologists scratching their heads.

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