NHER 27978 (Monument record) - Possible Iron Age to Roman enclosure

May 2003. Norfolk NMP.
Group of conjoined rectilinear and curvilinear encloses visible on NLA oblique aerial photographs from 1996 (S1). The main group of conjoined enclosures is centred on TG 1457 4087 and measures approximately 130m long and 40m wide. Some of the cropmarks are quite fragmentary although it appears that there are up to five conjoined encloses forming a ladder from TG 1460 4094 to TG 1454 4082. The enclosures vary in size from 35 by 35m to a small as 30m by 11m. Several sections appear to have double ditched elements. These are possibly trackways leading into the enclosed areas. There are also several possible entrances or causeways in the main ditches. It is not clear whether these are original entrance features or breaks in the cropmark, caused by either geology or ploughing. It is possible that at least some are archaeological in origin. To the east of the site is a fragmentary linear running from TG 1459 4086 to TG 1466 4083, which appears to be related. However to the south, centred on TG 1465 4074 are a fragment of co-joined linears, although they do not share the same alignment and relate to a different phase of activity in the area.
It seems likely that these conjoined enclosures are Late Iron Age to Romano-British in date, however there is no chronological material to indicate this date. The enclosures may have been used for the keeping of stock and not necessarily for domestic settlement as such and therefore may not have the associated deposits of domestic material culture.
S. Massey (NMP), 14 May 2003.