NHER 17681 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Site of probable Bronze Age round barrow, possibly named Cross Howe

17 July 1979.
NAU air photography.
Cropmarks.
One ring ditch.
D. Edwards (NAU), 11 February 1981.

Grid reference corrected from overlay.
E. Rose (NAU), 7 November 1983.

Called Cross Howe on medieval charters.
E. Rose (NAU), 28 November 1988.

October 2006. Norfolk NMP.
NMP mapping has led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 4258 1659 to TG 4258 1655.
The ring ditch described above is visible as a cropmark on an aerial photograph (S1). Like many of the other ring ditches visible in this area, the site probably represents the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow. The linear and curvilinear ditches that surround the site (part of NHER 45089) almost certainly represent later phases of activity. What may be the remains of two further ring ditches are partially visible to its northeast and north; the former, if genuine, appears to have been conjoined to the main ring ditch. Given the proximity of several other ring ditches, it is not clear whether the ‘Cross Howe’ documented in medieval charters refers to this site, as stated above, or to one of the other nearby sites, such as NHER 45092 260m to the southeast or NHER 44950 305m to the southwest.
The principal ring ditch, which is centred at TG 4257 1654, is circular in plan and measures 24.5m in diameter. Cropmarks visible within it, which have not been mapped by the NMP, could represent internal features or merely the underlying geology at the site. It should be noted that rectification of the aerial photograph was poor due to a lack of adequate control points, and the accuracy of the mapping is likely to have been reduced as a consequence.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 11 October 2006.