NHER 53521 (Monument record) - Site of probable enclosure complex and associated linear features of possible Iron Age to Roman date

April 2010. Norfolk NMP.
Some of the cropmarks described below were previously recorded as part of NHER 13357 and NHER 36400.
A probable enclosure complex and associated linear features are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S4), centred at TG 1277 0850. The archaeological features are visible amongst a profusion of geological and agricultural cropmarks, and as a consequence the plan of the site, and the distinction between archaeological and non-archaeological features is not very clear; as a consequence the NMP mapping represents a simplification of the cropmarks. However, there appears to be a cluster of broadly rectilinear conjoined enclosures, and related linear divisions and trackways, in the immediate vicinity of and probably joined to a larger, more substantial curvilinear enclosure (NHER 36400). This latter is of postulated Bronze Age to Iron Age date; the enclosure complex and linear features, some of which overlap with the curvilinear enclosure, give the appearance of representing a later phase of activity, for which an Iron Age to Roman period date seems plausible. They are, for example, comparable to some of the enclosures and enclosure complexes illustrated in (S5). The complex seems likely to represent settlement; it is notable that several of the postulated enclosures contain a pit (perhaps a well?), while a possible roundhouse (albeit very small) is also visible outside of one of them. The linear boundaries and trackways extend into the wider area surrounding the enclosures, but these too for the most part seem to belong to the same phase of activity, although some which have a different orientation may be of more recent origin. Some slight the cropmark of a probable Neolithic long barrow (NHER 13557), while others seem to respect it, reinforcing the likelihood that some later features are included in this site. Other possible enclosures visible in the surrounding area (NHER 53522 and 53523) may be contemporary sites, and the variable cropmark formation across the site suggests that there are a considerable number of archaeological features which have not been visible to or recognised by the NMP.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 27 April 2010.