NHER 21838 (Monument record) - Site of undated enclosures, trackways and field boundaries

3 July 1976. At approximate grid reference.
'Cropmarks' noted on Cambridge University Committee for Aerial Photography list of aerial photographs.
See (S1).
E. Rose (NAU) 22 October 1985.

June 2005. Air photograph.
Linear cropmarks.
See (S2).
J. Allen (NLA), 4 July 2005.

October 2006. Norfolk NMP.
NMP mapping has led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 405 161 to TG 4059 1619.

The cropmarks described above form part of a larger cropmark site, visible on aerial photographs (S2)-(S6). It comprises several enclosures, trackways and probable field boundaries, none of which are dated. The principal element of the site is a double ditched enclosure (centred at TG 4045 1618), which is divided internally into three compartments. This enclosure may represent a farmstead or other type of settlement. The trackways and ditches that surround it presumably relate to an associated field system. A number of pits, include a large pit-like mark or macula at TG 4044 1604, may be contemporary with the other features. It is evident from a slight variation in the orientation of a few central elements of the site (such as the enclosure and the curvilinear trackway that overlaps its north end) that more than phase of activity is probably represented. Overall, however, the orientation of most of the site is so similar that it is impossible to meaningfully distinguish between one phase and another. This may reflect a situation where changes were made to the site gradually over a period of time, rather than a wholesale reorganisation of the landscape, whether with or without a lacuna (or, in case of more than two phases, lacunae). The date of the site is unclear. Double ditched enclosures have been noted as a feature of Roman rural settlements, such as villas or farmsteads (see Winton 1998 (S7)). While a Roman (or Iron Age to Roman) date is possible for the site described here, its low-lying position (below 5m OD) and its slight irregularity would argue against it. Given its location close to Thurne village, a medieval to post medieval date is perhaps more likely, and material of this date has been recovered from a location just beyond the western edge of the site (NHER 35034). One ditch is depicted on the parish Tithe Map (S8).

The site as a whole measures 655m by 550m. Parts of an adjacent site to the east (NHER 45102) are almost certainly continuations of some of the features described here, and vice versa, but the overlap between the two is impossible to split up any more precisely. The principal enclosure, which is roughly square in shape externally, measures 110m by 105m. The more rectangular internal area measures 90m by 80m.

It should be noted that at least some of the rather fragmentary cropmarks visible at the southwest corner of the site might be of non-archaeological origin.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 26 October 2006.