NHER 38230 (Monument record) - Cropmarks of medieval or post medieval enclosure, possible mound, and drains

June 2003. NMP.
These features are within the boundary of NHER 23030, but have been separated due to the allocation of finds to that number. At the eastern end of the site is an elongated mound (centre TF 6244 1533) with a length of 138m and a width of 21m (S1). This may be a spoil heap from the clearing out of the Puny drain, as there is a strip of rough, uneven ground at other points along the western side of the drain, although its former saltmarsh location might also suggest it is a saltern site.
To its immediate west is a probable square enclosure (centre TF 6240 1537). On most images (S2 and S4) the northern, western and southern sides of this feature appear to be formed by a single wide ditch, with the eastern side being formed by a drain that is probably on the line of a former saltmarsh channel. However, the 1966 Ordnance Survey images (S1) suggest that it is possible that the enclosing feature is formed by one, two or multiple thinner ditches blurred together by plough action. There is a substantial bank on the inside of the western side ditch. The ditches enclose an area measuring 43m by 43m that has a distinct light coloured, parched appearance on the cropmark images (S1 and S2), with a sub-rectangular darker area at its centre (S2). On 1946 images this feature appears as a sub-circular depression with a possible spoil heap on it’s northern, eastern and southern sides.
The feature has a length of 26m and a width of 18m, and possibly represents a large pit or pond. This is not a typical moated site, and the low-lying location would also seem to a curious location for a house. The north and southern sides are extended further to the west as drains, although the sides of the enclosure are distinct from these drains, and the lighter interior area is clearly defined. This may be a stock enclosure or small settlement site, possibly related to saltmarsh or common grazing.
There is a concentration of medieval pottery to the north of this site, but it is not directly associated with the enclosure. Despite the fact that the enclosure is not recorded on historical maps it is possibly medieval or post-medieval in date. A pre-medieval date is unlikely due to the build-up of silts in the area after that period.
To the west is a series of linear features (S1) that appear to part of a field system but are equally likely to be Post-medieval drains, that may also have acted as field or allotment boundaries. This area appears to be un-enclosed in 1797 (S3) and while these may be the vestiges of an earlier, abandoned system of enclosure, the low-lying nature of this area suggests that this is unlikely.
M. Brennand (NMP), 9 June 2003.