NHER 21270 (Monument record) - Multi period field system, at Top Farm

THE RING DITCHES DESCRIBED BELOW ARE NOW RECORDED AS PART OF NHER 29628.

29 July 1983. NAU Air photography, see (S1).
Positive cropmarks.
2 ring ditches and adjacent linear features (ditches).
D.A. Edwards (NAU).

11 March 1985.
Ring ditches at 4607 1891 and 4621 1884.
E. Rose (NAU).

March 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The ring ditches described above are now recorded as part of NHER 29628. Some of the cropmarks described below were previously recorded as NHER 21772. NMP mapping has led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 4617 1887 to TG 4659 1888.

The linear cropmarks described above are part of a multi period field system visible as fragmentary cropmarks on aerial photographs (S2)-(S8). Some elements of the site, such as the zigzag ditch visible between TG 4614 1909 and TG 4667 1916, are reminiscent of the probable Bronze Age field system identified 2.2km to the southeast (NHER 27338) and may be similarly early in date. Double ditched rectilinear boundaries and/or trackways aligned approximately northeast to southwest and northwest to southeast, such as the ditches visible around TG 4678 1870, bear a closer resemblance to a probable Iron Age to Roman field system identified in the same area (NHER 27339). At TG 4629 1900 and elsewhere, the field system appears to respect the numerous ring ditches visible at the site (e.g. NHER 29628). This suggests that these elements of the field system probably post-date the ring ditches, which are themselves probably the remains of Bronze Age barrows. Elsewhere, the ditch visible between TG 4682 1928 and TG 4699 1932 appears to correspond with a field boundary depicted on the Ordnance Survey 2nd edition 25 inch map (S9), indicating that parts of the site may be of relatively recent origin.

The field system is visible across an area measuring approximately 1155m by 930m. It is too fragmentary for any overall patterns to be recognised with any certainty.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 15 March 2006.