NHER 38451 (Monument record) - Post medieval water meadows and drainage ditches

February 2004, Norfolk NMP
Post medieval water meadows and drainage ditches are visible as earthworks on 1946 RAF aerial photographs (S1). Floated water meadows of this type comprised a system of channels and drains to create a managed flow of water across the surface of the meadow. This encouraged growth of the grass early in the year to provide spring grazing for livestock.

The water meadow lies principally to the west of a winding watercourse between TG 3602 2695 and TG 3578 2631 and comprises a series of forty four roughly east to west aligned ditches. A more complex arrangement of ditches is present in the northern part of the water meadow where a 215m long curving ditch marks its western side between TG 3602 2695 and TG 3585 2682. Two roughly north to south aligned ditches extend southwards from this feature for 125m and 135m to meet one of the east to west ditches. The earthworks in this main area had been levelled and were under arbale cultivation by 1964 (S2). Three parallel ditches on the same broadly east to west alignment are visible to the east of the watercourse at TG 3594 2675 on 1964 RAF aerial photographs (S2). In the southwest part of the area, centred on TG 3573 2645, three cropmark linear features were visible on 1972 Ordnance Survey aerial photographs (S3). These features were parallel and on a northwest to southeast alignment. The central ditch extended for 70m between TG 3576 2643 and TG 3570 2647 and divided into three at its northwestern end. It is not clear if these ditches were directly related to the water meadow and they may have served a solely drainage function.
J. Albone (NMP), 05 February 2004.