NHER 30305 (Monument record) - Cropmarks of a ring ditch and rectangular enclosure

11 July 1989. NAU air photography.
Linear cropmarks.
D. Edwards (NAU).

February 2013.
Google Earth imagery from 2006 (S1) shows the cropmarks very clearly and indicates that the site comprises a ring ditch and a rectangular enclosure with at least one internal division to the south. Mapping has been amended using the Google Earth imagery to show more accurately the location of the cropmarks. The ring ditch measures c. 25 m in diameter and is located inside the rectangular enclosure. The enclosure itself measures c. 90 m NE-SW and at least 135 m NW-SE although the easterly end is obscured by probable geological features. The internal division is c. 20 m from the southern boundary of the enclosure and appears to respect the ring ditch, although this may be a product of the photograph. Further faint marks to the south west and north of the enclosure may be the remains of other features and potentially ring ditches, although this is dubious.

It is possible that the ring ditch represents the remains of a Bronze Age barrow which is overlain by a later enclosure, or that the ring ditch and enclosure are contemporary, although this is less likely. The enclosure appears to be Roman based on both morphology and finds from this field (NHER 31813). On the basis that the finds record includes a Roman coin hoard, among other significant objects and of the odd juxtaposition of the ring ditch and enclosure it is possible that this is a Roman site of some significance, possibly religious, although there is not enough evidence to prove this.
K. Powell (HES), 27 February 2013.