NHER 11650 (Monument record) - Multi period field system, south of Blood Hills Farm

1976. Between Blood Hills and Gibbet Hill.
Area of rectangular cropmarks around an old pit.
Claimed by [1].
Information from from NCM.

Cropmarks visible on CUCAP air photograph taken in 1973, see (S1).

March 2006. Norfolk NMP.
Some of the cropmarks described below were previously recorded as part of NHER 11651. NMP mapping has led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 4729 1819 to TG 4761 1811.

The ‘rectangular’ cropmarks described above are part of an extensive multi-period field system of unknown date, visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S7). The site comprises numerous linear, rectilinear and curvilinear ditches, some of which combine to form a coherent pattern of field boundaries while others appear more random. The site is consequently difficult to date, although the varying orientation and, to some extent, character of the different elements suggests that more than one phase of activity is represented. The apparent incorporation of a probable Bronze Age round barrow into a trackway or double ditched boundary (at TG 4760 1801) indicates that this part of the field system is almost certainly later than the cemetery of which the barrow forms part (NHER 11651). Roman, medieval and post medieval metalwork recovered from the northeastern quadrant of the site (NHER 36157) may reflect some of the periods during which parts of the field system may have been laid out and/or in use.

A notable element of the site is the irregular curvilinear trackway or double ditched boundary mentioned above, which is visible intermittently between TG 4787 1798 and TG 4735 1797 (and perhaps as far as west as TG 4724 1790). Its general character and the way in which secondary boundaries project from it at seemingly random angles is reminiscent of a possibly Bronze Age field system identified 1.5km to the southeast (NHER 27338). This, and other elements of the site aligned approximately east-to-west and north-to-south may form part of a single, large field pattern with similarly aligned boundary ditches visible in the adjacent fields to the east (NHER 43426). Other ditches are oriented approximately northeast-to-southwest; these are particularly evident on the eastern side of the site. This orientation and their generally rectilinear character, partly defined by probable trackways or double ditched boundaries, is shared with several field systems of possible Iron Age to Roman date mapped in this part of the Norfolk, including NHER 27339 approximately 1.7km to the southeast.

It should be noted that the linear ditches visible to the south of Hemsby Road are not entirely convincing as archaeological features and could instead reflect recent agricultural activity. A possible curvilinear ditch at TG 4771 1814 could represent part of a ring ditch, perhaps an outlier to the barrow cemetery NHER 11651, but it is not clear enough to interpret with any certainty and may not even be archaeological in origin. In addition, due to a lack of control points, some of the ditches on the eastern side of the site were sketched from unrectified parts of the aerial photographs.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 21 March 2006.