NHER 43557 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmark ring ditch, Hopton-on-Sea

September 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a ring ditch, probably the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow, are visible on aerial photographs in Hopton-on-Sea (S1). The site is centred on TG 5207 0124. This ring ditch is located within an area of complex and overlapping enclosures and field boundaries, dating from the late prehistoric to the Roman period (NHER 43494-5, 43559). Excavation is required to reliably reveal the chronological sequence of the cropmarks in this area.

The ring ditch is 17.5m in diameter and the northeastern arc is not visible on the aerial photographs, potentially masked by geological cropmarks. The cropmarks are extremely faint and it is possible that the entire feature is geological in origin. The size of the ring ditch would be within the normal ranges for both a round barrow and a prehistoric hut eavesdrip gully. However the positioning of the feature in relation to the surrounding enclosures would not suggest that it is a hut circle, plus is also noticeable larger than the other ring ditches, interpreted as the remains of huts, in this area (NHER 43494-5). It is therefore most likely that the ring ditch represents a Bronze Age round barrow. Other possible round barrows have been recorded within the area (NHER 43515-6). It has been suggested that these barrows form a focus for the prehistoric trackways in this area, see NHER 43501 for discussion.
S. Massey (NMP), 11 September 2006.