NHER 45169 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmark ring ditch

October 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a possible and incomplete ring ditch, potentially the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow, are visible on aerial photographs to the northwest of Oak Farm, Hopton on Sea (S1). The site is centred on TG 5072 0092. 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. Other round barrows have been recorded within this area (NHER 17225, 45168-73). These are all located on the eastern side of plateau defined by the 15m contour. The round barrows are all positioned on or near to this contour, either on the plateau edge or valley side. A sinuous trackway runs through this barrow group (NHER 43544), a late prehistoric origin for this track has been suggested and it is possible that it is sited on the round barrows.

This incomplete ring ditch consists of a semi-circular ditch with a potential ring of 21m in diameter, with a relatively broad ditch, up to 2m wide. The cropmarks are quite faint and it is possible that this cropmark is in fact geological in origin, however the semi-circular shape is quite well defined. This semi-circular ditch overlies or is overlain by a ditch that forms part of field system of probable post medieval date (NHER 45155).
S. Massey (NMP), 19 October 2006.