NHER 50806 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Site of probable Bronze Age round barrow

January 2008. Norfolk NMP.
An undated ring ditch is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 2656 1605. It probably marks the site of a Bronze Age round barrow. Its topographic position, on elevated ground overlooking the confluence of two tributaries of the River Bure to its northeast, supports this view, and other ring ditches and enclosures in the area have also been interpreted as prehistoric funerary monuments (e.g. NHER 21850 800m to the east, and NHER 50598 500m to the northwest). Part of a possible elongated enclosure (NHER 50807) visible adjacent to the northwest side of the ring ditch could represent a Neolithic long barrow or mortuary enclosure, but its archaeological origin is in doubt.
The ring ditch is roughly circular in plan; a slight flattening on its southern side may reflect distortion by the modern tramlines. It measures approximately 19m in diameter. An apparent break on the northeast side of the ditch circuit is as likely to reflect the cropmark being masked, as it is the presence of a genuine entrance or causeway. Other circular cropmarks visible in the same field are defined less clearly and are probably the product of underlying geology and/or recent agricultural activity.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 21 January 2008.