NHER 45034 (Monument record) - Multi-period and undated cropmarks

Some of these cropmarks were previously recorded under NHER 12137.

September 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a dispersed group of multi-period and undated ditches are visible on aerial photographs to the south of Aldeby House (S1-S7). The site is centred on TM 4513 9385. These cropmarks are located within the vicinity of a large cropmark complex including a Roman temple site (NHER 45036) and a series of enclosures and trackways that may also be Roman in date (NHER 45018). Underlying fragments of earlier fields and enclosures may be visible (NHER 45024 and 45033). A number of prehistoric ceremonial and funerary monuments are also located within the area of this site (NHER 45028-30, 45032). The cropmarks recorded under this multi-period site do not appear to fit into any specific phase. Without further evidence it is impossible to offer any worthwhile interpretation of these features. Additional aerial photograph material or archaeological excavation would be needed to investigate this area further. For details of finds recorded within this area see NHER 12137 and these range from prehistoric to post medieval in date.

The majority of the cropmarks are located within the central and eastern parts of the site. Most of the cropmarks consist of fragmentary ditches and linear features, some of which run parallel to one another and may represent double ditched boundaries or trackway segments, such as at TM 4540 93600 and TM 4550 9363. Centred on TM 4523 9376, in-between the temple and the pair of large barrows, is an area of cropmarks that appear to reveal a complex set of coaxial ditches, possibly forming fields and subdivided enclosures (S2, S4). Some of these have previously been mapped as archaeological features, however on the examination of the aerial photographs it would appear that many of the cropmarks are of natural origin.
S. Massey (NMP), 01 September 2006.