NHER 22596 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Medieval to post medieval parish boundary bank

Bank.
Aligned northwest to southeast with ditch on east side. Ditch forms parish boundary but bank is wholly within Ketteringham.
First noted by R. Bellinger and NARG fieldwalkers (see their plan in file).
Section C to C1 destroyed by new road when visited by E. Rose (NAU).
To north of C1 bank is about 1.75m high and 2.5m wide at top, rounded profile, covered in grass and low plants but with stumps of old trees. Towards D it increases in height to in excess of 2m the ditch is kept separate from the ponds to E at D. From D to E height rapidly decreases to 1.35m, and stops abruptly at E in line with edge of Lower Deal Belt. The Bank A to C along railway, though now continuous with it seems to be later addition when the railway was made in the 1840s (but mostly quarried away when seen by E. Rose (NAU)). There is a gap at B where once was a level crossing.
Smeeth Wood is not shown on (S1) but (S2), altered in about 1860 for addition of railways, shows both Smeeth Wood and Upper Deal Belt, as Ketteringham Wood. This section north of railway has clearly been replanted since then.
Explanation as parish boundary bank seems probable, but size is unusual; however it is also large for a wood boundary bank; its sudden end at point E is strange. Beyond point C the parish boundary follows the railway eastwards for a few
yards, so it would be expected to stop there. There was once a footbridge at this point perhaps suggesting a pathway for beating the bounds.
Visited by E. Rose (NAU) 15 May 1986.

May 2011. Norfolk NMP.
The boundary bank and accompanying ditch described above are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs (S3)-(S5), between TG 1467 0305 and TG 1477 0295. Due to boundary changes, the site now lies predominantly within the parish of Hethersett, with only its southern extent, which is partially obscured by shadow on the aerial photographs, falling within Ketteringham. As has been described, its former role as a parish boundary marker seems clear and a medieval or post medieval date is probable. However, a function as a wood bank also seems plausible: its location on a former parish boundary and the parish name ‘Ketteringham Wood’ both support the Ancient Woodland status of this block of woodland, Faden’s map (S1), which does not depict it, being unreliable in the recording of woods. A drainage function for the ditch also seems likely, the wood being sited on clay while the modern plantation is divided by substantial drains and tracks. Other than recording a break about halfway along its length, which coincides with a track from the west depicted on historic Ordnance Survey maps such as (S2), the NMP mapping adds little to the physical description of the bank given above.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 5 May 2011.