NHER 42146 (Monument record) - Undated embankment

November 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A linear bank, flanked (and at its north end seemingly cut) by ditches for most of its length, is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs (S1) and S2), from TG 4537 2439 to TG 4533 2419. Its date is unknown. It may be an embankment or even a causeway associated with the post medieval drainage of the area. This may have occurred prior to 1797, as Faden’s map of Norfolk (S3) shows an area of enclosed land at this approximate location, although the difficulty of correlating the position of the site with the map means that it may still have been part of Waxham Marsh at this date. The sinuous course of the bank contrasts with other drainage features visible nearby (e.g. NHER 42125 165m to the east) which are presumed to be of post medieval date. This may reflect it being the product of an earlier (that is, medieval) phase of activity, and/or of it following the course of a pre-existing natural channel. More recent aerial photographs, for example (S4), indicate that the site has now been levelled.

An apparent continuation of the bank to the north (from TG 4538 2440 to TG 4542 2449), visible as a cropmark on the same aerial photographs, has not been mapped as it is likely to be a modern agricultural feature, such as a land drain, which coincidentally lines up with the bank.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 8 November 2005.