NHER 18905 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of a multiple ditched enclosure of unknown date

27 July 1979. Air photography by Aerial Archaeology Foundation.
Positive cropmarks.
Double and in part treble ditched enclosure of which south and east sides visible beside main road.
NB. The well defined radiused corner ditch which shows clearly in same field is a recently removed field boundary.
D. Edwards (NAU), 18 February 1983.

June 2006. Norfolk NMP
Cropmarks of an incomplete multiple ditched enclosure of unknown date are visible on aerial photographs (S1-S2). The central grid reference for this cropmark has been amended from TM 3410 9060 to TM 3415 9060. Three sides of an incomplete rectilinear enclosure are present as cropmarks. The visible extent of the enclosure suggests that it has a trapezoidal or sub-rectangular plan lying on a roughly south southwest to north northeast axis. It measures at least 74m wide by 81m long externally and is defined by two to three narrow ditches. The outer ditch has sharply angled corners while the middle and inner ditches have rounded corners. Fragmentary ditch cropmarks are present inside the enclosure and some of these may represent internal divisions. The enclosure is situated on the floodplain of the River Waveney at below 5m OD. It lies approximately 200m from the line of Stone Street Roman road (NHER 10636).

The northwest side of the enclosure is cut by the modern road and it is likely that it is partly overlain by the adjacent maltings. The road is shown on a similar alignment on Faden’s 1797 Map of Norfolk (S3) indicating that the enclosure must be of an earlier date. The enclosure is aligned at an angle to both the modern field boundaries and the present route of the unnamed watercourse to its north. It is not marked on the 1812 Ditchingham enclosure map (S4) or the 1839 tithe map (S5). However, both of these maps show a step in the modern field boundary at TM 3415 9058, corresponding to the point where it crosses the enclosure ditches. This suggests that the enclosure was still partly visible, possibly as an earthwork, when the post medieval field boundaries were laid out. The alignment of the enclosure is similar to that of cropmarks of field boundaries present further to the east (NHER 43772). Some of these are probably of post medieval date but their similar alignment to the cropmark enclosure may be entirely coincidental. The multiple ditched form of the enclosure makes it comparable with examples of late prehistoric (Bronze Age to Iron Age) and Roman date. Artefacts of Iron Age and Roman date (NHER 29125) have been found in the vicinity of this cropmark and it also lies close to Stone Street Roman road (NHER 10636). It is most likely that this enclosure is of late prehistoric or Roman date although its function is uncertain. However, the fact that the enclosure appears to have survived long enough to influence the positioning of post medieval field boundaries raises the possibility, although it is somewhat unlikely, that it has a medieval to post medieval origin.
J. Albone (NMP), 15 June 2006