NHER 50782 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Site of possible hengiform ring ditch of doubtful archaeological origin

January 2008. Norfolk NMP.
A possible hengiform monument or ring ditch is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 2575 1883. Such features are known from elsewhere in Norfolk, where in some cases they might feasibly represent the remains of late Neolithic or Bronze Age funerary or ceremonial monuments. Alternatively, such marks are also typical of medieval or post medieval post mill sites. In this case, however, the archaeological significance of the cropmarks is uncertain, as it appears from the aerial photographs that the background geology of the area is conducive to the formation of curvilinear marks. (Compare NHER 24977, located 277.5m to the southwest.) The site appears to be crossed by a field boundary of probable post medieval date, which is also visible as a cropmark (part of NHER 50779).
The ring ditch is rather oval in plan, measuring 38m long and 25m wide. This unusual shape may in part be due to the photograph used for mapping being distorted by the rectification process – the field is towards the back of the shot on the relevant photograph, and the number of points available for control was inadequate – but it reinforces the impression that cropmark is of non-archaeological origin. So too does the unusually wide ‘entrance’ in its east side, which is defined by swollen termini to the ditches.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 8 January 2008.

January 2020. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of proposed aggregate extraction area.
This survey identified no evidence for sub-surface remains associated with this cropmark, making a non-archaeological origin much more likely.
See report (S2) and NHER 68261 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 10 April 2024.