NHER 42396 (Monument record) - Cropmarks at Gapton Hall Industrial Estate

January 2006. Norfolk NMP.
Linear and slightly curvilinear cropmarks are visible on an aerial photograph (S1), centred at TG 5074 0576. The cropmarks could be drainage features, probably of post medieval date. The ditches oriented approximately east-to-west along the north side of the site are aligned almost parallel to the irregular course of a drain to their north, shown on modern maps; the dark cropmark along the south side of the drain suggests that it was once a more substantial channel and/or that it has been prone to flooding; the east-to-west drains may mark its former extent or be associated with its canalisation. The cropmarks, however, are often not convincing as archaeological features. Many are aligned with modern cultivation patterns and the edges of the surrounding field; this suggests that some or all of the cropmarks could be of recent agricultural origin, like others visible on the same photograph but not mapped by the NMP. Similarly, linear cropmarks visible in this same area and immediately to its south on aerial photographs taken in 1944 (S2) have not been mapped as they cannot be distinguished from modern agricultural marks.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 16 January 2006.

March 2023. Assessment of the Character and Significance of East Anglian Field Systems project.
The site described above was included in the dataset analysed for the Historic England-funded Assessment of East Anglian Field Systems project. See the project report (S3) for further details.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk County Council Environment Team), 22 March 2023.