NHER 61514 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Earthworks of mound of uncertain date and significance

September 2016. 'Brecks from Above' and Breckland National Mapping Programme.
The earthworks of circular mound of uncertain date and significance are visible on on the 0.5m resolution Lidar data (S1).
The mound, which is approximately 15m across, is located alongside the Brandon to Methwold road and the Saxon territorial boundary, the Fossditch (NHER 1089), and a series of trackways and boundaries (NHER 31516) of probable post-medieval date. The presence of dumps of soil – assumed to be the mound recorded here and NHER 61513 to the west – at the junction of the Fossditch and the Methwold/Stoke Ferry road was noted in 1955 by Rainbird Clarke (S2) and it has been suggested that they were created when the road cut through the rampart of the Fossditch – as has also been suggested for larger nearby mound and/or barrow (NHER 4491).
A linear feature of relatively modern date to the immediate east of the mound unfortunately makes it hard to accurately decipher the relationship between the mound and boundaries to the east.
Given the location of the intersection of these two routes, the interpretation of spoil heaps is convincing. However, the mounds are extremely round and regular for spoil heaps and have no obvious signs of ramps or tip lines or irregular spreading on the lidar that might be expected with such features. The mounds are also located within the centre of a cluster of larger barrow mounds (NHER 4491, NHER 33605, and NHER 56274), which appear to form a barrow cemetery (NHER 61515). The possibility that these mounds are the remains of round barrows and not merely spoil heaps potentially requires further investigation on the ground.
S. Horlock (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 29 September 2016.