NHER 42154 (Monument record) - Undated, possibly post medieval, drains

November 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A group of undated linear banks and ditches is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (S1), (S2), (S3) and (S4), centred at TG 4584 2379. Given their location on low-lying ground, they seem most likely to be part of a former drainage system. Although they cut across (and therefore presumably pre-date) a road and land boundaries depicted on Horsey Enclosure and Tithe maps (S5) and (S6), their generally rectilinear layout suggests a post medieval date. The road or track they cut across (which leads to Horsey Corner) is not shown on Faden’s 1797 map of the county (S7), and the drains may therefore represent a pre-19th century attempt to drain this area. Several ponds are depicted at this location on Faden’s map (S7), some or all of which may have been the product of the extraction of peat or clay, presumably in the medieval period (see Williamson ‘The Norfolk Broads’ (S8) for example). The subsequent water logging of the extraction area may have necessitated the drainage system visible on the aerial photographs.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 15 November 2005.