NHER 45053 (Monument record) - The cropmarks of a possible Roman enclosure and associated features

THESE CROPMARKS WERE ORIGINALLY RECORDED UNDER NHER 11787

August 1998. Trial Trenching.
Partial evaluation of South Gorleston Development Area (Stage 1; Trenches 15-20).
This work saw a number of trenches placed to investigate cropmarks associated with this enclosure and what has now been identified as a fairly extensive field system of probable Roman date (NHER 45053).
Surviving ditches associated with the western and southern sides of this enclosure were identified, although dating evidence was limited to two sherds of Roman pottery. A ditch identified nearby produced a much larger assemblage of Roman pottery but the alignment of this features makes it more likely that it was associated with the more extensive field system (NHER 45052).
Trenches placed to investigate the intersections between the cropmarks now recorded as NHER 45052 and NHER 45053 revealed a number of ditches, although unfortunately little in the way of dating evidence was recovered. It does though appear that the features likely to be broadly contemporary with the enclosure probably post-dated those associated with the wider field system (NHER 45052).
See NHER 62739 and report (S11) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 16 March 2019.

September 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a possible Roman enclosure and associated features are visible on aerial photographs to the north of Hobland Hall, Gorleston on Sea (S1-S2). The site is centred on TG 5129 0224. Some of the ditches have been excavated in 1998 as part of the South Gorleston Development Area (S3). The site consists of a rectilinear enclosure, conjoined to a series of ditches, probably field boundaries. A small ring ditch to the north of the enclosure may indicate the former presence of a roundhouse or hut. This enclosure and boundaries may form part of the a much wider area of settlement an fields to the immediate south and west (NHER 45052), thought to date to the Iron Age to Roman period.

The main component of the site is a rectilinear enclosure centred on TG 5129 0227 and measuring 105m by 80m. Several internal subdivisions are also visible, including a ditch dividing the enclosure into two roughly equal sections. This enclosure appears to be conjoined to a double ditched boundary, which continues to the southwest and either meets with, or is overlain or overlies a boundary ditch associated with NHER 45052. The relationship is not clear from the cropmarks, although the fact that they are not aligned along the same axis might indicate that they are of different dates or phases. To the north of the enclosure, at TG 5124 0232, is a small ring ditch, 6.5m in diameter. Although this is outside of the enclosure it is likely to represent the remains of a late prehistoric or Romano-British round house. Other similarly sized ring ditches located within enclosures on other sites in this area would support this interpretation (NHER 43494-6, 45053). Although an agricultural feature such as a stackstand or small hut is also possible given the size.

The excavation of ditches associated with the main enclosure dated the site to the Roman period and suggested that the ditch assemblages suggested manuring of fields, rather than a settlement (S3). Some caution may be required when attributing a Roman date to the entire site, as only one of the ditches visible on the aerial photographs contained Roman material. The majority of the Roman material recovered came from a ditch not identified on the aerial photographs and it is worth noting that this follows a slightly different alignment to the rest of the site. Other trenches placed over the southwestern end of the double ditched boundary revealed extremely shallow features, which contained no finds and were interpreted as post medieval field drains. Given the aerial photograph evidence for these features a post medieval date seems unlikely. Further excavation would be required to establish the chronological sequence on this site. It is worth noting that the double ditched boundary and the enclosure are aligned the same as other major features interpreted as being part of a planned Roman landscape (NHER 43495, 43497 and 43591).
See NHER 62739 for further information on the features excavated in 1998.
S. Massey (NMP), 13 September 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 (S5) for further details.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk County Council Environment Team), 22 March 2023.