NHER 45097 (Monument record) - Site of closely spaced undated enclosures and/or field system

October 2006. Norfolk NMP.
A cluster of enclosures and/or part of a field system, together with a number of associated features, is visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S3), centred at TG 4070 1867. It comprises a rectilinear arrangement of ditches, defining fields or enclosures. The complexity and close spacing of the features may indicate that this was a settlement or that it had a specialised function. A number of possible ring ditches are visible, most of which are as likely to reflect recent agricultural activity or the underlying geology at the site, as they are the presence of archaeological features. The two most convincing ring ditches, visible at TG 4059 1865, are small enough to represent round houses. The date of the site is not known, although if the possible round houses are genuine, they suggest a date between the Bronze Age and the Roman period. Although the orientation of the site is similar to that of another undated site, NHER 45096, to its south, there is a slight difference, and this, together with their morphological differences, suggests the two are not contemporary.

The group of enclosures or field system is visible across an area measuring approximately 335m by 230m. It may have once extended further to the north and northwest; ditches with a similar orientation visible in adjacent fields have been recorded as part of NHER 45072. No discrete enclosures or fields are distinguishable for individual morphological recording. The most complete of the larger ring ditches is oval in plan and measures 18.5m long and 15m wide. The most complete of the smaller ring ditches is circular in plan and measures 8m in diameter.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 12 October 2006.