NHER 38956 (Monument) - Cropmarks of two possible undated ring ditches

November 2004. Norfolk NMP.
Two possible ring ditches are visible as earthworks and/or vegetation marks on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 2689 3790. There is no evidence that they represent the remains of prehistoric round barrows, although ring ditches thought to date to the prehistoric period have been mapped 575m to their south-west (NHER 12850). Given that in 1946 they may have survived as slight earthworks they seem most likely to be post-medieval agricultural features, possibly large stack stands. The fact that they are visible on only one set of aerial photographs, however, means that the possibility that they are the result of modern agricultural activity cannot be discounted.
The eastern ring ditch is almost circular in plan and measures 14m in diameter. It is not clear whether it was designed to be open on its south side or whether this has been caused by later activity. There are possibly slight signs of a low inner mound but these are dubious and have not been mapped. The western ring ditch is ovoid in plan and measures 17.5m long and 16m wide. Neither ring ditch is visible on aerial photographs taken after 1946 and they were presumably levelled shortly after that date.
(S1).
S. Tremlett (NMP), 4 November 2004.