NHER 43593 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - The cropmarks of a major land boundary of possible Roman date

PREVIOUSLY RECORDED UNDER NHER 12780.

1977. Aerial photography (S2).
Linear cropmark, apparently of a pre-road field boundary similar to one to north still on Ordnance Survey map (S8), running from TG 5115 0263 to TG 5158 0259 then turning through a right angle north off edge of photograph.
E. Rose (NAU), 12 September 1977. Information from (S9).
Previously recorded under NHER 12780.
P. Watkins (HES), 16 March 2019.

September 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a major land boundary of possible Roman date are visible on aerial photographs running from Wheatacre Farm to James Paget Hospital, through the Bradwell and Great Yarmouth parishes (S1-S4). The site is centred on TG 5104 0260. This boundary ditch is remarkably straight and appears to underlie most of the post medieval landscape features along the route. This linear appears to originate at an intersection with another major landscape feature, also remarkably straight, and this has been tentatively interpreted as a possibly Roman Road (NHER 43591). This relationship, combined with the straightness of the boundary, has led to the suggestion that this feature is also Roman in date. It seems unlikely that the boundary is medieval, given its straightness and the fact that it is largely ignored by the surrounding post medieval landscape. Although at its eastern end the boundary appears to make a right-angled turn to the north and is overlain by a post medieval field boundary bank (NHER 45056). It is therefore possible that parts of the boundary continued in use or were at least still visible in the landscape.

The straight section of the ditch runs from TG 5029 0257 to TG 5142 0260, then crossing the Bradwell and Great Yarmouth parish boundary it makes a right-angled turn to the north to TG 5155 0270. This end section of the ditch seems to be overlain by a post medieval field boundary bank (NHER 45056). The ditch is up to 3m wide and is visible as a single ditch for most of the length, however the central section shows traces of a northern, narrower ditch (S3). The line of the ditch either underlies or overlays a series of fragmentary field boundaries (NHER 45055), which have been interpreted as being late prehistoric in date. The cropmarks are not sufficiently clear to ascertain the relationship between the two sets of ditches. In places the possible late prehistoric ditches appear to overlie the straight ditch, whilst in other locations the opposite is true. Excavation would ideally be required to establish the chronological relationship between the two sets of cropmarks.

An obvious alternative interpretation for a straight linear feature that cuts across fields and roads without any obvious deviation is a modern pipeline. However this linear feature is visible on RAF aerial photographs from 1944 (S1), as well as oblique aerial photographs from the 1970s (S2-S4).
S. Massey (NMP), 14 September 2006.

January 2013. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of large proposed development area.
A faint east-to-west aligned linear anomaly at the southern end of the field to the west of Clay Lane (NHER 62727; TG 5063 0259) possibly corresponds with these cropmarks, although it should be noted that this wasn't identified as a potentially archaeologically significant anomaly.
There was little trace of any features associated with these cropmarks in the field to the east (NHER 62730).
See report (S5) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 16 May 2018.

February-March 2010. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with installation of underground electrical cables.
Although the cable trench crossed the line of these cropmarks at TG 5123 0260 no corresponding sub-surface remains were observed.
See report (S6) and NHER 62738 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 16 May 2018.

June-July 2016. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development area to west of Woodfarm Lane.
Three of the trenches exposed a substantial east-to-west aligned ditch that almost certainly corresponded with these cropmarks. Unfortunately dating evidence was limited to a single sherd of possible Iron Age pottery and two possible loomweight fragments.
See report (S7) and NHER 62738 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 16 May 2018.

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 (S10) for further details.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk County Council Environment Team), 22 March 2023.

April-May 2024. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of land east of Woodfarm Lane.
These trenches encountered an east-to-west aligned ditch likely to be associated with these cropmarks, although unfortunately no dating evidence was recovered. It appeared to be cut by an undated north-to-south aligned ditch associated with one of an extensive group of cropmarks thought to represent field boundaries of predominantly post-medieval date (NHER 45056).
Information from draft report.
See report (S11) and NHER 68434 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 August 2024.

September-October 2024. Excavation.
Final phase of archaeological mitigation prior to development of area to west of Woodfarm Lane.
This work exposed a section of the previously identified ditch associated with this cropmark. This was again shown to be a substantial feature, although unfortunately no dating evidence was recovered.
See report (S12) and NHER 62738 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 January 2025.