Excavations in Thetford, North of the River, 1989-90

The origins of Thetford as a town lie in the Late Saxon period, probably around AD 900. There followed a remarkable expansion in the 1Oth and 11th centuries, when the town covered a very large area south of the River Little Ouse. By the time of the Norman Conquest, Thetford occupied both banks of the river and was centred on an important river crossing, perhaps the 'Thet-ford' (Fig.2). Two sets of probable defences existed (one each side of the river), possibly both of Late Sax on date but of different character and, perhaps, origins.

The nature and extent of Thetford's Late Saxon town defences south of the river have become better known over recent years as a result of the excavations by Knocker (Rogerson and Dallas 1984, 60-3), Davison (Dallas 1993) and Rogerson (Rogerson and Dallas 1984, 55-7). These have shown the defences to have extended from Red Castle in the west, to the site of St Barnabas' Hospital (Site 1 092) in the south, and finally to Nuns' Bridges in the east. However, the existence of a northern circuit has remained conjectural since Green and Clark (1963) suggested that a possible Late Saxon and Norman settlement north of the river was enclosed within a defensive circuit which is toJay marked by the line of Water Lane, Painter Street, Earl's Street and Guildhall Street. Penn suggests an alternative to this hypothesis.