NHER 43740 (Monument record) - Cropmarks of field boundaries of unknown date

March 2005. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of field boundaries of unknown, but possibly Iron Age to Roman date are visible on aerial photographs in-between Stubb Farm and Stubb Mill, Hickling (S1). The site is centred on TG 4333 2208. The date of these field boundaries is not known, although an Iron Age or Roman date is possible given the regularity of the field boundaries. Another group of rectilinear enclosures and field boundaries are located in close proximity to these cropmarks (NHER 43739), although it is not clear which is the earlier site. These cropmarks are located within a wider spread of undated, multi-phase cropmarks (NHER 43741).

The cropmarks are quite fragmentary and represent discontinuous linear ditches, interpreted as field boundaries forming a broadly co-axial arrangement, which runs diagonally to the post medieval field layout. These ditches obviously pre-date the post medieval field layout and the road running west-east along the Stubb, which is likely to be of some antiquity and is marked on the 1797 Faden map (S2). The morphology of the cropmarks would suggest a possible Iron Age to Roman date. The Stubb is a narrow strip of slightly raised ground with loamy soils, which is surrounding by the lower valley peats and alluvial clays. This strip of land would probably have offered an obvious location for settlement and agriculture in the past.
S. Massey (NMP), 29 March 2005.