NHER 21772 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Possible Bronze Age round barrows, at Top Farm

THE LINEAR CROPMARKS DESCRIBED BELOW ARE NOW RECORDED AS PART OF NHER 21270.

29 June 1976. At approximate grid reference.
'Cropmarks' noted on (S1).
E. Rose (NAU), 9 October 1985.

27 November 1985.
(S2) examined by D. Edwards. Reported cropmarks (above) found to be of one ring ditch at corrected national grid reference plus linear features at TG 4665 1915.
D. Edwards (NAU), 6 December 1985

Extending into Martham parish.
E. Rose (NAU), 2 September 1987.

March 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The linear cropmarks described above are now recorded as part of NHER 21270. NMP mapping has led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 466 192 to TG 4671 1924.

The ring ditch described above (which may in fact be two overlapping ring ditches), together with a second, double ring ditch located approximately 103m to the south, is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S2). It is probable, given their character and location, that these represent the levelled remains of Bronze Age round barrows. The site is surrounded by cropmarks of a multi-period field system (NHER 21270); the barrows presumably pre-date the field system but the exact relationship between the two sites is not known.

The cropmark of the northern ring ditch, visible at TG 4669 1930, is rather fragmentary. It is roughly circular in plan and measures approximately 17m in diameter. A centrally located pit, which may have held a burial, is visible within it, but this cropmark should be treated with caution as it could be geological rather than archaeological in origin. A curvilinear cropmark immediately to its east may mark the site of a second, overlapping ring ditch or possibly some kind outer enclosure or annexe. It measures 15m in diameter. The double ring ditch to the south (at TG 4672 1918) is rather faint and its archaeological origin is therefore uncertain. It is circular in plan and measures 29.5m externally and 23.5m internally.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 15 March 2006.