NHER 13358 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmark of Neolithic causewayed enclosure

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE CAUSEWAYED ENCLOSURE, THE CROPMARKS DESCRIBED BELOW ARE NOW RECORDED AS NHER 38485 (THE LONG BARROWS) AND NHER 38497 (THE RECTILINEAR ENCLOSURE OR LINEAR DITCHES).

1977 to 1990. NAU air photography.
Cropmarks of very large interrupted circular ditch, straight sided enclosure with rounded ends, slightly tapering, and portion of a second.
Also various linear features.
Suggested as causewayed camp and long barrows by D. Edwards (NAU).
See (S1).
Plans in file.

28 June 1996. NLA air photography.
Cropmarks of causewayed enclosure and long barrow still visible.
Two linears appear to be cut by or respecting the causewayed enclosure, as they run up to its course, but do not cross it. It is possible that the creation of the causewayed enclosure has destroyed further evidence of them.
The two linears may be part of a rectilinear enclosure or series of ditches that are roughly contemporary with the causewayed enclosure, or at least built with reference to each other.
S. Massey (NLA), 9 October 2001.

19 July 1996. NLA air photography.
This is a causewayed enclosure.
M. Brennand (NLA), 22 August 2001.

1997. Aerial Photograph Interpretation.
Aerial photograph transcriptions by Royal Commission on the Historical Monument of England as part of the 'Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic Project'.
Regarded as a "very probable" causewayed enclosure.
See publication (S12) for further details. This work is also noted in (S14).
P. Watkins (HES), 21 March 2017.

March 2004, Norfolk NMP.
With the exception of the causewayed enclosure, the cropmarks described above are now recorded as NHER 38485 (the long barrows) and NHER 38497 (the rectilinear enclosure or linear ditches). NMP mapping has led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 2210 3525 to TG 2201 3533.

The Neolithic causewayed enclosure described above is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs taken over several years (S2-10), centred at TG 2201 3533. Vertical photographs (S9-10), viewed in stereo, reveal that the enclosure lies on the north-west side of a slight knoll or spur, from where the ground drops from above 35m OD to the valleys of two minor tributaries of the River Bure. These streams, Hagon Beck 170m to the east of the enclosure and an unnamed stream (now a drain) 130m to its south-west, converge 350m to the south-east of the site, at a height below 30m OD. The chronological relationship between the enclosure and the two Neolithic long barrows and possible oval barrow 40m to its north (NHER 38485) and two further possible oval barrows or enclosures 60m to its west (NHER 38496) is unclear, but these monuments are likely to have been sited in relation to each other. A rectilinear enclosure to the south-east of the causewayed enclosure appears to respect it and is likely to date to a period after the Neolithic but when the causewayed enclosure still survived as an earthwork. A Neolithic axe has been reported from the area (NMR TG 23 NW 18).

The enclosure consists of a single circuit of causewayed ditch, comprising fourteen mapped segments of ditch up to 4.5m wide. These enclose an oval area measuring 105m long and 92m wide or almost 0.74 hectares. A kink in a ditch segment at 2206 3531 may indicate where two segments have been joined together. Variations in the strength of the cropmark at TG 2198 3530 and TG 2197 3534 may mark a change in the depth of the ditch or the type of backfill, again possibly indicating the removal or addition of a causeway. These factors may explain the different number of ditch segments recorded by different individuals, which varies from eleven to fifteen (NMR TG 23 NW 20; S11; S12, fig. 6.7). Two particularly broad ditch segments on the north-west side of the enclosure may mark an entrance (S12, 52, fig. 3.16). A thin curvilinear ditch, concentric to and approximately 4m inside the ditched circuit, is probably the remains of a palisade trench. Single and paired pits within the enclosure, one of which is nearly 7m long, appear to be contemporary with the enclosure. Two curvilinear ditches to the west of the main enclosure may have formed an annexe to it. Two pairs of short, broad ditches to the east of the enclosure may also be contemporary with its use but are located in a part of the field which was utilised in later periods.

It should be noted that a large number of linear features were visible as cropmarks on the consulted aerial photographs (S2-10). These lie both within and around the enclosure and the majority appear to be post-medieval or modern in date, comprising field boundaries, field drains and other features associated with buildings (Hagon Beck Cottages) and enclosures visible on historic maps (S13). It is possible, however, that other features associated with the causewayed enclosure lie unrecognised within this group of later features.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 11 March 2004.