NHER 44955 (Monument record) - Earthworks of a possible medieval to post medieval moat, ponds and ditches

August 2006. Norfolk NMP
Earthworks of an enclosure or small moat, ditches and ponds of probable medieval to post medieval date are visible on aerial photographs (S1-S3). These earthworks are centred on TM 3572 9472. A small rectangular enclosure or moat is located at TM 3576 9473. It is defined by a 2.5m wide and measures 16m by 14m internally. Earthwork ditches extend to the east and south from its northeast and southeast corners. Further ditch earthworks on a similar west to east and north to south alignments are present to the west of the enclosure. Three former ponds are present on the central part of the site. Two of these are marked on the first edition 6 inch to the mile Ordnance Survey map (S5). A rectangular earthwork bank is present immediately to the north of the ponds. It measures approximately 30m long by 6m wide and corresponds to the position of a building marked on the 1839 Kirby Cane tithe map (S6). A further building is present to its south but is not visible as an earthwork. These buildings relate to a farm that is marked on Faden’s 1797 Map of Norfolk and also on Bryant’s 1826 map, on which it is labelled as ‘Florences Fm’ (S7-S8). It is possible that the farm had a medieval or early post medieval origin and that the earthworks, including the enclosure or moat, could relate to previous phases of activity at the site. The earthworks had been levelled and the field taken into arable cultivation by 1988 (S4) when the features were partly visible as cropmarks.
J. Albone (NMP), 16 August 2006