Editing Seahenge (section)

== Discovery ==
In early Spring&nbsp;1998, John Lorimer, an amateur archaeologist and beach comber, was catching shrimps with his brother-in-law Gary on Holme beach.<ref name="atlasobscura">{{cite web |title=Seahenge |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/seahenge |website=[[Atlas Obscura]] |access-date=4 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref> The pair found a Bronze Age [[axe|axe head]] in the silt, but at first did not know what it was. Intrigued, Lorimer visited the area repeatedly, eventually finding a lone tree stump that had been unearthed on the beach – unusual in that it seemed to be upside down.<ref name="gettyimages-ancient-oak-circle">{{cite web |last1=Walters |first1=Michael |title=Seahenge Ancient Oak Circle |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/seahenge-ancient-oak-circle?page=1 |website=[[Getty Images]] |access-date=4 April 2022 |date=1999 |quote=The ancient oak circle which emerged from the shifting sands at Holme next the Sea in Norfolk. The ring of oak tree trunks with a large upturned tree at its centre is believed to be 4,000 years old & is said to be of great archaeological importance.}}</ref> A [[metal detector]]ist friend later recognised the site's importance, so they contacted the [[Norwich Castle|Castle Museum in Norwich]]. Archaeologists at the museum examined the axe head, the second one found on Holme Beach within only a few months. Lorimer continued to monitor the inverted tree stump. Wave erosion gradually exposed a surrounding ring of wooden posts, confirming that the site was an intentional human construction. Lorimer contacted Castle Museum again.<ref name=Watson-2005/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 1–4}}

The museum contacted Edwin Rose, at the time Norfolk Landscape Archaeology's Development Control Officer, who then visited the site with Lorimer on 12&nbsp;August 1998. At first, Rose suspected it was a fish trap from the [[Anglo-Saxon]] period, relatively commonplace for the area. But he began to suspect that it might be something else. So Rose inquired whether [[English Heritage]] would fund an excavation. They agreed.<ref name=Watson-2005/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 13–14}}