NHER 38636 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmark of ring ditch

February 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A ring ditch is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 4517 1641. Although the cropmark is not particularly clear, it appears to be rather hengiform in plan, with swollen terminals to either side of a possible entrance on its south side. Material of prehistoric date has been recovered from the surrounding area. This includes a Neolithic polished flint axe found approximately 135m to the south-west (NHER 11399) and quantities of prehistoric flints recovered from fieldwalking along the route of the Bacton to Great Yarmouth gas pipeline 600m to the north (e.g. NHER 34013). It is plausible, therefore, that the ring ditch might represent part of a levelled burial mound or small ceremonial monument of Neolithic to Bronze Age date. In the absence of any direct dating evidence for the site, however, a number of other interpretations are possible, such as the cropmarks representing the enclosing ditch of a medieval post-mill mound. Its relationship with a number of linear ditches that have been mapped in the immediate vicinity (NHER 39194) is not known, although it appears to overlie, or be overlain by, at least one of these.

The ring ditch is slightly oval in plan and measures approximately 26m long and 22m wide. The cropmark of its east side is rather indistinct.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 23 February 2005.