NHER 43451 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of medieval to post medieval field boundaries, Bradwell

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Summary

The cropmarks of a group of medieval to post medieval field boundaries are visible on aerial photographs of former arable land in Bradwell, now developed into housing. The cropmarks of a probable medieval to post medieval post mill is located within one of these fields (NHER 43450). Some of these field boundaries are marked on the 1842 Bradwell Tithe map, although the majority of them have been removed by this date. These cropmarks appear to overlie fragments of earlier field systems, possibly dating to the Iron Age and Roman periods (NHER 43454).

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Location

Map sheet TG50SW
Civil Parish BRADWELL, GREAT YARMOUTH, NORFOLK

Map

March 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a group of medieval to post medieval field boundaries are visible on aerial photographs of former arable land in Bradwell, now developed into housing (S1-S3). The site is centred on TG 5043 0426. The cropmarks of a probable medieval to post medieval post mill is located within one of these fields (NHER 43450). Some of these field boundaries are marked on the 1842 Bradwell Tithe map (S4), such as the soilmark of a field bank centred on TG 5065 0423, although the majority of them have been removed by this date. The cropmarks appear to mark the presence of former subdivisions within these fields, such as at TG 5045 0424, where three additional boundaries are visible within an area marked as one field by 1842 (S4). The post mill mound is the located within this field and it is possible that these subdivided areas are associated with the workings of the mill.

Running from TG 5020 0427 to TG 5037 0419 is the soilmark and cropmark of a ditched boundary (S2). This is up to 3m wide in places and has a possible parallel ditch running along part of it’s length. This field boundary has a similar alignment to many of the fragmentary field boundaries and ditches interpreted as being possible Iron Age to Roman in date, see NHER 43454 for details. However this broader ditch appears to be part of the post medieval landscape and does also follow the same line as the field bank to the east. The parallel ditches that run perpendicular to the broad ditched boundary are probably marking smaller parcels of land within the fields.
S. Massey (NMP), 29 March 2006.

March 2023. Assessment of the Character and Significance of East Anglian Field Systems project.
The site described above was included in the dataset analysed for the Historic England-funded Assessment of East Anglian Field Systems project. See the project report (S5) for further details.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk County Council Environment Team), 22 March 2023.

  • <S1> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1944. RAF 106G/LA/21 4043-4 04-JUL-1944 (NMR).
  • <S2> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1953. RAF 82/724 0060-1 16-FEB-1953 (NMR).
  • <S3> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1955. RAF 58/1674 (F21) 0323-4 04-MAR-1955 (NMR).
  • <S4> Map: Unattributed. 1842. Bradwell Tithe Map. 6 chains: 1 inch.
  • <S5> Unpublished Report: Tremlett, S. and Watkins, P. 2023. Assessment of the Character and Significance of East Anglian Field Systems.

Object Types (0)

Related NHER Records (0)

Record last edited

Mar 22 2023 11:22AM

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