NHER 17056 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Undated linear and rectilinear features and ditches

2 August 1977. NAU aerial photography.
Cropmarks of a number of linear and rectilinear features representing ditches.
Adjacent to railway line and cut by it, apparently.
Compiled by D. Edwards (NAU), 17 February 1981.

March 2009. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of an enclosure, associated ditches and a trackway of possible Roman or medieval date are visible on aerial photographs to the west of Primrose Farm, Swainsthorpe (S1-S2). The site is centred on TG 2174 0079. This enclosure is cut by the mid-nineteenth century Norwich to Diss Railway line (NHER 13578) and would also appear to pre-date the boundaries and enclosures depicted on the Swainsthorpe Tithe map (S3), undated, but also mid-nineteenth, suggesting that these are likely to be pre-post medieval in date.
The main enclosure may be trapezoidal in shape, although only the eastern part of the site is visible due to the railway line cutting the site. This incomplete enclosure measures at least 35m by 30m. A small ditched square area, 8.5m across, may sit within the southeastern part of this enclosure. However it is possible that the cropmarks that form at least one side of this feature may have been caused by agricultural activity, as it coincides with the tramlines. A narrow trackway runs along the southern edge of the enclosure. A slightly curving ditch runs towards the end of this trackway from the southwest, but it is not entirely clear whether the two features are related and/or contemporaneous. To the south of the enclosure are a series of parallel boundaries and tracks. Given the internal subdivisions of the possible enclosure, it could be speculated that this had a function other than a stock enclosure, possibly a domestic site, such as a farmstead.
These cropmarks appear to be overlain by cropmarks relating to or associated with boundaries and enclosures marked on Swainsthorpe Tithe map (S3). There is a noticeable similarity between the alignment of this known post medieval, or medieval to post medieval, layout and some of the earlier enclosure and boundary ditches. It is therefore possible that this enclosure represents an earlier, but related phase of land division of possible medieval date. Given the morphology of the enclosure and associated ditches a Roman, or late Iron Age to Roman date could be suggested. Roman finds recovered to the east of these cropmarks (NHER 9720 & 23724) could support this interpretation.
S. Horlock (NMP), 23 March 2009.