NHER 26793 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Post medieval earthwork banks and ditches

February 2001. NMP.
A number of fragmentary earthwork banks can be seen at TF 7644 on 1945 aerial photographs (S1and S2). The banks seem to occur most often alongside ditches. Three straight, narrow ditches are visible, running north to south, also. The features are all visible on 1950 aerial photographs (S3), and also 1972 aerial photographs (S4), although slightly less clearly. The banks seem to correspond with the courses of possible boundary ditches, which may also have been used for drainage, as depicted on the 1905 Ordnance Survey map (S5). The banks visible on the aerial photographs may be mounds of soil resulting from the clearance of these boundary/drainage ditches. The whole of this area appears on a 1797 map (S6), enclosed by sea defence banks (NHER 26777 and 26794) and labelled 'drained'. It is thus clear that this area was being drained in the post medieval period, and would probably have had a number of drainage ditches to aid the reclamation process. It may be that the ditches visible on modern aerial photographs date to the post medieval period. Similarly, the banks may represent a build up of spoil from many years of drain clearance, and become more clearly visible on aerial photographs in the periods soon after they have been cleared. The banks may also have played a part in dividing up the reclaimed land acting as boundaries as well as drains. Although the features are obviously still utilised and cleared in the modern period, it is quite likely that they do in fact date to the post medieval period and attempts at land reclamation.
A. Hunt (NMP), 1 February 2001.