NHER 67803 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Site of medieval settlement

December 2023. Wendling Beck and Fransham Aerial Investigation and Mapping (AIM) Project.
Features relating to probable medieval settlement are seen as earthworks (since levelled) on aerial photographs (S1-S2). The features consist of a series of boundary ditches, field boundaries, a rectilinear enclosure, probable drainage ditches and a possible trackway or former boundary. The site of medieval common edge settlement has also been suggested from previous investigations (NHER 20636 and 20638), namely field walking, undertaken across the area. Although the mapped features are likely to date to the medieval period, it is possible that some of the features, could date to the post medieval period. It is also possible that some of the mapped features could relate to modern agricultural features or drainage, which are also visible across the area on the aerial photographs (S1-S2). The majority of the features can be seen as earthworks on the 1944 aerial photographs (S1). A number of the features appear to have been levelled by 1946 (S2) with some of the features visible as soilmarks. The remaining earthworks are presumed to have been subsequently levelled, as the features are not visible on the relatively recent (2017) visualised lidar data (S3).
J. Powell (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 15 December 2023.