NHER 30314 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmark enclosures of unknown date

The central NGR for the site has been altered from TG 1213 1752 to TG 1142 1759.

11 July 1989. NAU air photography.
Linear cropmarks, in part forming rectangles, underlying recent cultivation marks were observed in aerial photographs.
D. Edwards (NAU).

15 October 1993. NLA air photography.
Cropmarks are not clear in these photos.
H. Clare (NLA), 16 February 2001.

NGR corrected from original (TG 1215 1745).
M. Horlock (NLA), 24 March 2003.

October 2007. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a group of enclosures and field boundaries of unknown definite date, are visible on aerial photographs to the east of Morton Warren and Slade Plantation, Morton on the Hill (S1). An Iron Age to Roman date could be suggested for these cropmarks based on their morphology, although a medieval to post medieval date is also a possibility based on available map evidence. The site is centred on TG 1142 1759.

The site consists of a series of rectangular conjoined enclosures, the majority of which are approximately 40m long. A small, 6.5m by 8m, oblong enclosure sits within the enclosures towards the eastern end of the site. A series of double ditched trackways run in-between the enclosures. An Iron Age to Roman date could tentatively be suggested for these cropmarks based on their morphology. Numerous Roman date finds, plus one Iron Age find, have been recovered from nearby (NHER 29344), although no dating material has been found in association with these cropmarks. A more fragmentary group of similarly aligned enclosures and field boundaries are located approximately 425m to the west (NHER 50660). It is possible that the two groups of cropmarks are broadly contemporary. These have tentatively been interpreted as being Iron Age to Roman in date, although this is not certain.

Some of the cropmarks are cut by a series of parallel linear field boundaries that would appear to form part of the post medieval field layout marked on the 1842 Tithe map (S2), although many of the boundaries have been removed by the time of survey. This post medieval field layout has been partially recorded under NHER 50648. This would suggest that the feature mapped significantly pre-date the nineteenth century. Superficially the enclosures and boundaries mapped would appear to be following a different alignment to the post medieval layout of fields to the north of Morton village. However a slightly curving boundary and/or trackway leads off northwest from the northwestern corner of the main fields. The curve and alignment of this boundary is similar that exhibited by the cropmark enclosures, in fact one of the trackways mapped follows a similar curved course to the northwest, and it may be possible that the enclosures represent a medieval to post medieval extension to the Morton village. The enclosures mapped exhibit similar dimensions to those property boundaries still in use (approximately 40m across).
S. Massey (NMP), 31 October 2007.