NHER 36479 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmark of ring ditch

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Summary

A ring ditch, likely to be the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow, is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. It forms part of a cemetery (NHER 38652) comprising four ring ditches, or three ring ditches and a circular enclosure, situated on a moderate slope overlooking the confluence of Hagon Beck and an unnamed tributary (now a series of drains) 1.2km to the south. It lies in an area notable for its evidence of prehistoric ceremonial and funerary activity, and the ring ditch described here almost certainly forms part of this phase of activity.

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Location

Map sheet TG23NW
Civil Parish ROUGHTON, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Map

28 June 1996. NLA air photography.
Cropmark of dual concentric ring ditch, likely to be a Bronze Age funerary monument.
S. Massey (NLA), 9 October 2001.

March 2004, Norfolk NMP.
The ring ditch described above is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 2170 3631. Given its location in an area of known prehistoric ceremonial and funerary activity, it seems most likely that the ring ditch represents the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow. It is the northernmost of three ring ditches of similar size which cluster around a larger double ring ditch or enclosure. These are recorded collectively as barrow cemetery NHER 38652.

The ring ditch is sub-circular in plan and measures up to 22m in diameter. A concentric inner ring ditch is rather more circular and measures 14m in diameter. The breaks in both ditches are likely to be the result of the cropmarks being masked by recent agricultural activity and unresponsive geology. An interior pit, located towards the northern side of the inner ring ditch, may be a grave. It should be noted, however, that the underlying geology is conducive to forming pit-like cropmarks and it is possible that the pit is in fact geological in nature.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 16 March 2004.

  • --- Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TG 2136D - P.
  • <S1> Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1996. NHER TG 2136H (NLA 365/JFM13) 28-JUN-1996.

Object Types (0)

Record last edited

Oct 21 2010 2:46PM

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