NHER 43592 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - The cropmarks of a field system of unknown date

November 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of an extensive system of fields, lanes and enclosures of unknown date are visible on aerial photographs in the Belton with Browston and Bradwell parishes (S1-S14). The site is centred on TG 4880 0185. These fields appear to be aligned alongside and associated with a major land boundary or more likely a road (NHER 43591). The date of this road is not known and a possible Roman date has been suggested, partly due to the straightness of the route, but also it’s relationship with other medieval to post medieval landscape features, such as the parish boundaries and the Beccles Road. It is therefore also possible this field system is also, in origin at least, Roman in date. However the arrangement of the fields and lanes fits quite well with the dominant alignment of the surrounding post medieval landscape and therefore may also be of this date. However this may be reflective of the fact that elements of a Roman enclosed landscape have persisted and become fossilised in later field layouts. This has also been suggested for the parts of the Hopton landscape to the east, see NHER 43495.

The Beccles Road clearly cuts through this field system. The schematic depiction of the route of the Beccles Road on the 1675 Ogilby road book (S15) appears to be consistent with the route of the road marked on the 1783 Hodskinson map (S16), which reflects that of the modern route. The road lead directly from Great Yarmouth to the river crossing and Priory at St Olaves. The present bridge of 1847, replaced an earlier bridge of 1509, and an even earlier ferry site (NHER 11913). All of this evidence would lead to the Beccles Road being at least medieval in date, which would indicate that the road and fields revealed by the cropmarks would appear to be pre-medieval in date. The western end of the cropmark road appears to join up with the ‘Back Lane’, a slightly more sinuous trackway to the south of Hall Farm. The main area of fields is located to the south of Back Lane (S8). At the western end of the Back Lane another straight section of road diverts down to the southwest through Belton Common. It is possible that this straight road section is also revealing an originally Roman road section. Some of the field boundaries forming the extreme western end of this site appear to be overlain by boundaries of at least post medieval date (NHER 45271), which appear to be associated with the parish boundary between Fritton and St Olaves and Belton with Browston. Again this is all indicating a possibly early date for these fields. This is reminiscent of the fact that the possible Roman road to the northeast also crosses and ignores the parish boundary between Belton with Browston and Bradwell.

The fields to the south of the Back Lane are defined by a series of trackways, lanes and multiple ditched boundaries, which are probably the result of the recutting and braiding of tracks and boundaries. The main N-S boundaries are perpendicular to the road to the north and Fritton valley to the south. The subdividing boundaries run roughly parallel to the road. The clearest of these is a boundary or track running from TG 4862 0151 to TG 4913 0165 (S5). The western end of Short Road also appears to fit this pattern and the cropmarks of a trackway appear to continue the line of this road into the arable (S8). It is assumed that the majority of these boundaries define agricultural fields and stock enclosures, although it is possible that some of them had a non-agricultural function. The field size varies greatly across the site, from relatively large areas up to 150m across, to much smaller parcels of land, approximately 60m across. Within the fields to the north of Belton Common Wood and Nine Acre Wood are several smaller enclosed areas, such as at TG 4880 0132, TG 4889 0137, TG 4897 0125, TG 4907 0142, TG 4913 0153 and TG 4900 0169 (S2, S5). These range in size from 5m across to 20m across. It is possible that these areas relate to stock enclosures. None of the enclosed areas seem sufficiently well-defined to relate to settlement areas, although it is possible that structures existed and are not producing a cropmark response.

The fields to the immediate north and south of the possible Roman road cropmarks (NHER 43591) are much more fragmentary than the main area of fields. The majority of features mapped consist of ditches parallel to the main road or boundary and small perpendicular stretches of ditch running in-between (S1, S10-12). It is likely that these features represent the remains of a former field system that ran alongside the road. To the northeast of the site is an enclosure that also appears to fit into this pattern (NHER 18388) and it is possible that this is also Roman in date.

The cropmarks show more clearly to the south of the Beccles Road and the plan of the enclosures is more coherent and complete in this area. This may be due to the boundaries not continuing in use for as long as those to the north. The post medieval boundaries on the 1838 Tithe map (S17) reveal a completely different layout and orientation to that of the cropmarks to the south of the Beccles Road. Whereas to the north of the Beccles Road the general layout appears to have been incorporated into the post medieval landscape and therefore is probably revealing a palimpsest of boundaries and recutting of features. Some of the boundaries mapped in this area are shown on the Tithe map (S17), indicating the continuation of this system well into the nineteenth century. The fact that at least some of these boundaries appear to be in use in the post medieval period could again suggest a post-Roman date for the fields. However it may indicate a continuity of general field and road orientation from the Roman period onwards, rather than necessarily indicating an actual Roman origin for all of the boundaries. It is also interesting to note that the pattern of the existing post medieval fields to the east of the site, those to the south of Cherry Lane, also follow the same alignment as those revealed by the cropmarks. This general alignment is also shared by a series of cropmark fields recorded further to the east (NHER 45174), again these are of unknown date, but may have Roman origins.
S. Massey (NMP), 24 November 2006.

January 2013. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of large proposed development area.
The area examined coincided with the easternmost of the cropmarks in this group - a pair of adjacent, parallel, north-east to south-west aligned probable ditches at TG 5059 0267. These potentially correspond with a similarly-aligned linear anomaly that was identified at this location.
See report (S17) and NHER 62727 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 2 January 2019.

May 2018. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed route of Lound to Gorleston Water Pipeline.
A trench placed across the east-to-west aligned cropmark at TG 5012 0260 revealed no evidence for associated sub-surface remains.
See NHER 63595 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 30 September 2019.

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 (S18) for further details.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk County Council Environment Team), 22 March 2023.