NHER 27245 (Monument record) - Post medieval sea defence bank

September 2005. Norfolk NMP.
The earthworks of a post medieval sea bank are visible on aerial photographs, running along the coast between the Waxham and Horsey Gaps. The bank lies inland from the major dune system that protects this stretch of low-lying land from the sea. The site is centred on TG 4538 2501.

The sea bank is visible as intermittent earthworks from TG 4474 2589 in the north and TG 4613 2401 in the south. At this southern point it would have joined with the bank marked on the modern maps and was therefore not mapped. The bank continues along the landward side of the dunes and then curves around to the southwest at Bramble Hill and forms part of the embankment for the Hundred Stream. The route of the banks is depicted on the 1816 Horsey Enclosure Map and is recorded as being 21 feet wide (S8). The northern section of the bank is also marked on an 1803 map showing sea banks and breaches between Waxham and Winterton (S9). The bank is referred to as the ‘County Bank’ on this map, whereas on the Ordnance Survey First Edition map (1879 to 1886, 6 inch) (S10) the bank is marked as the ‘Delve Bank’.

The northern section of the bank is visible as a broad embankment, varying in width from 5 to 15m. The central section of the bank, at around TG 4535 2507, consists of two parallel banks with a drainage channel running in between. Further south, near Warren Farm, the earthworks indicate a series of narrower parallel banks and drains.
S. Massey (NMP), 31 September 2005.