NHER 63337 (Monument record) - Probable pre-Second World War practice trench

June 2019. Breckland National Mapping Programme.
A probable pre-Second World War practice trench (or practice trenches) is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs and lidar imagery (S1)-(S2). It may be of First World War date, or could relate to military training taking place in Breckland before 1914, or in the inter-war period. It could, for example, date from the large scale military exercises that took place in the Brecks in 1906, 1911 and 1912 (see S3). Certainly, on aerial photographs from 1946 (S1), much of the trench is obscured by forest cover, with only the western part being visible, and that does not appear to have been freshly dug. Several other similar trenches have been recorded to the north (NHER 57837) and northwest (for example NHER 63338). It is not clear whether the trench at this site originally formed a single circuit, as the two parts are visible on difference sources. Recent aerial photographs and the lidar imagery indicate the eastern part of the trench has been levelled, but that the more extensive western part still survives.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 26 June 2019.