NHER 38509 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Possible Iron Age or Roman field system and trackway

March 2004. Norfolk NMP.
A cropmark site of unknown but possibly Iron Age to Romano-British date, is visible on aerial photographs to the south of Tower Lane, Sidestrand (S1). The site consists of a series of ditches, which are interpreted as the fragmentary remains of field boundaries and a possible trackway. The site is centred on TG 2579 4005.

The cropmarks mainly consist of two stretches of linear ditch running in alignment from TG 2582 4009 to TG 2573 4003. To the western end of the site one of these parallel ditches may form a 16m section of trackway. A pair of further parallel ditches are visible to the south of the site following the same alignment. To the north and south of the main ditches are several perpendicular fragmentary linear features. Although the cropmark evidence is quite scarce, it is possible to interpret these features as being part of a coaxial arrangement of field boundaries and trackways. These features could be of any date, although an Iron Age to Roman date would be consistent with features this type. Fragments of a Roman quern were found in a back garden backing on to the field. This may indicate settlement of that date in this area, although there is a possibility that the object was transported to the site through antiquarian activity, see NHER 15384 for details.

Additional possible cropmarks were tentatively identified but not mapped due to uncertainty over the archaeological nature of some of the features visible. Many of the cropmarks were quite faint and could easily be confused with and masked by the surrounding geological cropmarks. Therefore some caution must be applied to the archaeological origin of all these mapped features, especially as they were only visible on one set of aerial photographs.
S. Massey (NMP), 17 March 2004.