NHER 45152 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of post medieval road or trackway

October 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a post medieval road or trackway and associated field boundaries are visible on aerial photographs running from Browston Hall to the parish boundary at Wheatcroft Farm, Belton with Browston (S1-S4). The site is centred on TG 5024 0222. A similar linear cropmark runs towards this point on the parish boundary from the east (NHER 45153). Both of these roads or trackways are marked on the 1797 Faden map (S5). This road appears to cut through an area of post medieval field boundaries (NHER 45154), although it is also possible that it is an earlier feature, which the fields have developed around.

The road or trackway is visible as parched cropmark or light soilmark up to 9m wide and with accompanying ditches and additional parallel banks to either side. The road runs intermittently from TG 4994 0192 to TG 5041 0244. By the time the 1838 Belton Tithe map (S6) was surveyed only part of the line of the track is visible, surviving as a field boundary. An additional stretch of parallel bank is visible 110m to the southeast at TG 5024 0211. Double and single ditches continue the line of this bank and it may have originally formed a continuous boundary running parallel to the roadway. These linears and another section of ditch to the east follow the line of part of the parish boundaries, which kinks out to the west. In the case of the most eastern boundaries this follows the actual line of the parish edge. Running in-between the three parallel boundaries are a series of slightly curving field boundaries.

At TG 5010 0214 the road appears to cut through the corner of two field boundaries, which form part of a rectilinear system of post medieval boundaries (NHER 45154). This could imply that the road or trackway is later than this system, however it is equally possible that the fields developed around an earlier road.
S. Massey (NMP), 16 October 2006.

May 2018. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed route of Lound to Gorleston Water Pipeline.
A trench excavated across the main trackway cropmarks at TG 5023 0210 identified a pair of adjacent north-east to south-west aligned features likely to represent a flanking ditch.
A trench placed across one of the potentially associated east-to-west aligned cropmarks at TG 5021 0220 revealed no evidence for surviving sub-surface remains.
See NHER 63597 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 1 October 2019.

June to September 2018. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of topsoil stripping along route of Lound to Gorleston Water Pipeline.
The features recorded during the trial trenching were not observed during this phase of work.
See NHER 63597 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 17 October 2019.

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 (S7) for further details.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk County Council Environment Team), 22 March 2023.