NHER 30287 (Monument record) - Medieval to post medieval earthworks in Melton Constable Park

June 1989. NAU air photography.
Earthworks in Melton Hall Park.
D. Edwards (NAU).

March 2000. Earthwrok Survey.
Earthwork survey at 1:1250 of part of park.
Various fragmentary and enigmatic earthworks are noted in the western two-thirds of a polygonal ditched enclosure south of the Hall. Two linear features correspond to a park boundary and another boundary marked on a 1674 estate map, but these cut other slighter features, possibly related to settlement. A very degraded hollow and flanking features to the south-west may be part of a former roadway and associated enclosures.
See report (S1) for further details. This site is included in (S3) and the survey is also noted in (S4).
D. Holburn (HES), 14 November 2011.

February 2001.
Earthworks are in good condition, grazed by deer, minimal erosion.
H. Paterson (A&E), 8 February 2001.

(S2) and (S3) describe the earthworks, which are very degraded. One feature may be a medieval hollow way, and other amorphous earthworks on either side may be the remains of medieval settlement. Many of the other features are probably former field boundaries or attempts at drainage, and some may pre-date an estate map of 1674. (S2) suggests that these several phases of agricultural activity may suggest that the park may not date back to the 13th century. (S2) records a substantial ditch to the east of the area surveyed in (S1), which runs along the parish boundary boundary and may date to the Late Saxon period, or earlier.
See (S2) and (S3) for more details.
S. Spooner (NLA) 12 May 2006