NHER 49214 (Monument record) - Former peat cutting doles on St Villier's Fen

January 2007. Norfolk NMP.
Linear marks (and perhaps slight earthworks) visible on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), centred at TG 3335 2680, are probably the remains of former doles. The site was part of Honing Common in the 19th century (see Honing Tithe Map (S3)). During both the medieval and post medieval periods doles were often used for the extraction of shallow, surface peat for fuel, as described in Williamson 1997 (S4), and it is this activity that is likely to have produced the linear features visible on the aerial photographs. Further doles may be visible to the northwest, on both sides of the canal, but their identification is too uncertain to warrant inclusion in the site. On recent aerial photographs, e.g. (S5), the area is obscured by woodland cover and it is not known whether any traces remain visible on the ground.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 5 January 2007.