NHER 52375 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of possible Iron Age-Roman trackway

October 2009. Norfolk NMP.
Fragmentary linear ditches are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), stretching from TG 1604 1660 to TG 1589 1697.
These ditches are aligned north northwest-south southeast, and the northern 95m section is made up of two parallel ditches, 10m apart, suggesting that this is the site of a former trackway.
The features are, however, rather faint and ephemeral, and have been mapped with a note of caution, as agricultural ‘envelope pattern’ is visible in the surrounding fields.
A possible ‘ring ditch’ was recorded in this area (NHER 17763) but this could not be identifed from the available aerial photographs. However, a Roman coin was also recovered, so it is possible to postulate a late prehistoric to Roman date for the trackway.
It does not, however, appear to share an alignment with the postulated Iron Age to Roman field system in the area, which is made up of a series of parallel trackways (NHER 52377 and 52380) and linear ditches (NHER 52376, 52379, 52382 and 52384), and may therefore pre-date this system.
E. Bales (NMP), October 2009.