NHER 45072 (Monument record) - Site of multi-period field systems, trackways and enclosures

September 2006. Norfolk NMP.
An extensive area of multi-period cropmarks is visible on aerial photographs (S1)-(S9), centred at TG 4069 1897. For the most part, they appear to represent several phases of field systems, enclosures and trackways. Prehistoric, medieval and post medieval finds have been recovered from the area (NHER 34003 to 34004) and this, together with their general appearance, suggests that most periods from at least the Bronze Age to the post medieval are probably represented. It may be significant that the conjectured line of a Roman road between Caister on Sea and a section of Roman road at Smallburgh passes through this area (see record for NMR Linear 361; and Gurney 2005 in (S10)). Some of the latest or most long-lived elements are depicted on historic maps, such as the parish Tithe maps (S11)-(S12), while others fit the same pattern of enclosure. The complex yet intermittent nature of the cropmarks means that no attempt has been made to separate out distinct phases for individual recording, but the enclosures, which are of particular interest, have been recorded individually: see NHER 45093, 30631, 45095, 45097, 24982 and 45096.

The cropmarks are visible across an area measuring approximately 1.475km north-to-south and 1.745km east-to-west. Other, possibly associated cropmarks visible in the vicinity of the site, such as NHER 45070 and 45098, could extend the limits of the site even further. As well as the enclosures mentioned above, some of the most noteworthy elements of the site are the various trackways. These include a trackway visible intermittently between TG 4058 1925 and TG 4099 1936, which could be contemporary with the enclosure 230m to its southwest (NHER 30631). A second possible trackway or double-ditched boundary visible between TG 4046 1895 and TG 4088 1891 may form a ‘crossroads’ at TG 4067 1893 with a north-to-south aligned track or boundary.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 29 September 2006.