NHER 53245 (Monument record) - Site of probable post medieval to modern garden features in grounds of Eaton Old Hall

December 2009. Norfolk NMP.
Probable garden features of post medieval or modern date are visible as earthworks and/or vegetation marks on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 2053 0694. They lie immediately to the south of Eaton Old Hall (NHER 47931), a predominantly 19th century house which was perhaps an extension of an earlier building. Their orientation in relation to the hall, as depicted on historic maps (such as (S2)) suggests that they were contemporary with the hall, and therefore date to some time between the 19th and early 20th century (they are presumed to be disused in 1947 when the aerial photographs were taken).
The western part of the site comprises two wide low banks, partly flanked by narrow ditches. Although the archaeological origin of these banks is not certain (they might instead simply be vegetation patterns of recent origin, the easternmost of the two corresponds with a row of small structures depicted on the Ordnance Survey 2nd edition 25 inch map of 1902-7 (S2) (between TG 2053 0695 and TG 2052 0693), and may therefore represent a platform on which these structures stood, or the earthwork left after their demolition. To the east, an L-shaped bank and rectilinear arrangement of ditches, all of which are better defined than the features to the west, may represent a sunken garden, croquet lawn or similar. All the features lie within a wider area of landscaping/natural topography which has not been mapped; a broad bank or scarp bounds the area to the south, while the mapped features occupy a relative flat area the western and central part of which was later used as a tennis court (S3). The site has since been levelled (presumably) and built over, but potentially some elements could still survive below ground.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 4 December 2009.