NHER 27705 (Monument record) - Post medieval earthworks and possible water meadows

September 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A series of post medieval earthworks are visible on aerial photographs on an area of improved fen to the immediate east of Decoy Covert, Sea Palling (S1 and S2). The site is centred on TG 4368 2529 and consists of an area of closely spaced banks with drains in between, which may have acted as drainage or possibly something more akin to water meadows. Several irregular drainage channels and a small pond or extraction area are also visible. This may relate to past extraction of surface fen material or possibly, given the proximity to ‘Decoy Covert’ as some sort of wildfowl decoy. See NHER 42061 for another possible site with a similar function. See NHER 42091 for another possible decoy within this area.

The eastern half of the site is characterised by an area, approximately 170m wide, of banks ranging from 3.5m to 10m in width, separated by drainage channels. These drains are all perpendicular to the main drain to the west of the site. It is possible that these earthworks worked as water meadows, although they could just be deep drainage. The northern edge of these features is marked by a later drain which has been cut through the site. To the north of this were further possible parallel drains, although these were not mapped as no raised areas could be discerned within them. The field to the northwest of the site has a series of very narrow parallel drains cut into it, approximately 1 to 2m apart, though again these features were not mapped.

A small and irregularly shaped pool is visible at TG 4363 2535, lying within a large area of wetter darker ground, heavily colonised with vegetation. This has similar characteristics to areas of medieval and post medieval peat extraction identified to the south on North Hills marsh (see NHER 35363 and 42091 for nearby examples). However in this case there is no obvious edge of extraction, so it has not been mapped as a distinct cut, other than the irregularly shaped pit or pond. An irregularly shaped channel runs from TG 4377 2537 to TG 4366 2534. A low linear feature bank cuts across this feature and is roughly aligned the same as the possible water meadow earthworks and is therefore possibly related. These irregular drains may have originated from natural creeks within the fen, and as such probably represent elements of the landscape which pre-date the more rectilinear drains and boundaries in the area. No drains are depicted within this area on the Waxham Enclosure map (S3). This map is undated, but must have been surveyed between 1820 and 1840 (after 1820 as Waxham Cut is marked and this navigable channel was dug in the 1820s, and before the 1840 Tithe map was surveyed).
S. Massey (NMP), 31 September 2005.