NHER 42381 (Monument record) - Probable pre-19th century drains on Winterton Dunes

January 2006. Norfolk NMP.
Two fragmentary drains aligned at a right angle to each other, are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S3), with their junction at TG 4848 2110. They are not depicted on any of the consulted historic maps (although the southern end of the northwest-to-southeast ditch appears on modern maps), the earliest of which to be drawn at a suitable scale is Winterton Enclosure Map (S4) dating to 1811. The fact that the orientation of the drains is at odds with that of the boundaries depicted on this map suggests that they probably represent the remnants of an earlier, pre-19th century system of drainage, still of post medieval date given their rectilinear layout. The relationship between these drains and others mapped to their northwest (e.g. NHER 42382) is not known.

Several ridges or closely spaced banks are visible as earthworks on other aerial photographs, (S5) and perhaps also (S6), immediately to the south of and aligned parallel to the northeast-to-southwest drain. These superficially resemble ridge and furrow and while their location, on Winterton Dunes, suggests that they are almost certainly not ridge and furrow they may represent further post medieval agricultural activity and/or efforts to drain the area. They are so closely spaced that only their extent has been mapped, rather than the individual ridges.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 9 January 2006.