NHER 52396 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of possible ring ditch

November 2009. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a ring ditch, probably representing the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow, are visible on aerial photographs (S1). The site is centred on TG 2943 0281 and is located on the valleyside overlooking a minor valley, which leads into the valley of a minor watercourse, the Beck, to the north. Aerial photographs suggest that a watercourse or channel may also have run along this minor tributary valley at some point in antiquity. Another pair of barrows (NHER 49530) are located approximately 760m to the northeast on the same valleyside. A number of other barrows are also located on the slopes of this valley (NHER 17692 and 52390).
The ring ditch is slightly ovoid, measuring 31m by 24m, and its northern side is overlain by a post medieval field boundary. The oval nature of the ring ditch could indicate that it relates to an oval barrow, more characteristic of the Neolithic period, however this is far from certain, especially as the northern section of the ring ditch is not recorded. The cropmark is somewhat blurred and indistinct and it is feasible that it is not archaeological in origin. A number of former pits and ponds are visible on aerial photographs in the area, many of which produce a ring ditch-like cropmark, however there is no sign of the accompanying sunken appearance that such a feature would be expected to have.
S. Horlock (NMP), 03 November 2009.