NHER 43510 (Monument record) - Undated ditched cropmarks, Hopton-on-Sea

September 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of undated, but probably late prehistoric, ditches are visible on aerial photographs in Hopton-on-Sea (S1). The site is centred on TG 5224 0137. These ditches may form part of a trackway. These cropmarks are located within an area of complex and overlapping enclosures and field boundaries, dating from the late prehistoric to the Roman period (NHER 43494-5). The cropmarks recorded under this site do not appear to form part of the other phases, although it seems likely that they are late prehistoric in date. Excavation is required to establish the chronological sequence of the cropmarks in this area.

The cropmarks consist of sections of single and double ditch running intermittently from TG 5228 0146 to TG 5218 0131. The presence of the double ditched sections would indicate that it was a trackway, approximately 4m wide. The northern end of the trackway leads into an enclosure (NHER 43500) also thought to be of late prehistoric date, although the two features do not appear to be contemporary. The ditches also cut across the trackway associated with the possibly Iron Age settlement (NHER 43494), again indicating that they are of a different phase, although it is not possible to state which is the earliest feature.
S. Massey (NMP), 11 September 2006.

March 2023. Assessment of the Character and Significance of East Anglian Field Systems project.
The site described above was included in the dataset analysed for the Historic England-funded Assessment of East Anglian Field Systems project. See the project report (S2) for further details.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk County Council Environment Team), 22 March 2023.

September 2023. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of proposed development site to east of A47 and south of Masons Farm.
This survey identified no evidence for surviving sub-surface remains associated with these cromarks.
See NHER 60543 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 31 August 2024.

October 2023. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site to east of A47 and south of Masons Farm.
Two trenches that coincided with the southernmost cropmark in this group both revealed corresponding ditches, neither of which produced any dating evidence. There was however no evidence for surviving remains associated with the shorter, more fragmentary cropmarks recorded to the north-east.
See NHER 60543 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 31 August 2024.