NHER 42373 (Monument record) - Possible post medieval drains

January 2006. Norfolk NMP.
A group of former drains is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs (S1 to S3), centred at TG 4660 2081. The curvilinear ditch, visible between TG 4642 2089 and TG 4665 2073, may once have formed part of a natural channel but has been incorporated into a more extensive artificial system. The rectilinear elements, which on the east side of the site are cut by a sinuous drain of probably modern origin (not mapped), have the appearance of post medieval features. The alignment of the drains on the western side of the site (for example, the ditch segments visible between TG 4663 2088 and TG 4659 2076) contrasts with the surrounding drainage pattern. The latter is depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1st edition 6 inch map (S4), suggesting that the drains pre-date the later 19th century. The mapped features are not shown on Winterton Enclosure Map of 1811 (S5), either because they pre-date it or because they were minor drains regarded as insignificant by the surveyors. On the most recent consulted aerial photographs of the site (S6) the earthworks appear to have been at least partially levelled.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 5 January 2006.