NHER 38797 (Monument record) - Linear ditches visible as cropmarks

September 2004. Norfolk NMP.
Linear ditches, perhaps representing part of a rectilinear field system of pre-nineteenth century date, are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 2478 3989. One of the ditches crosses a ring ditch of possible Bronze Age date (NHER 11708), and a post-Roman date for the field system seems likely.

The possible field system is visible across an area measuring approximately 260m by 140m, around 2.2 hectares. It consists of a northeast to southwest aligned ditch, with a northwest to southeast aligned ditch (possibly a double ditch or narrow track) meeting this almost at a right angle. The other mapped features conform to the same general pattern, being parallel to the second ditch. A possible trackway cutting across the angle of the two main ditches stands out due to both its alignment and the more substantial ditches which define it. While it may date to a different phase of activity, it might otherwise relate to a change in the underlying geology rather than representing an archaeological feature.

Rather indistinct and fragmentary cropmarks visible on aerial photographs (S2-3) in the field to the south could be associated with this site but have not been mapped as their archaeological origin is rather dubious. The cropmarks of field boundaries depicted on historic maps (S4-5) are visible over the whole area on oblique aerial photographs (S1) but have also not been mapped. (S1-5)
S. Tremlett (NMP), 16 September 2004.