NHER 45230 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - A large group of cropmark field boundaries and enclosures predominantly of late prehistoric or Roman date

October 2006. Norfolk NMP.
A group of cropmark field boundaries and enclosures predominantly of late prehistoric or Roman date are visible on aerial photographs (S1-S10). This large site is centred on TG 4869 0459 and covers 2km by approximately 1.5km and is located within the southern half of the Burgh Castle parish and is to the east of Burgh Castle fort. These field boundaries follow a similar alignment and arrangement as other large groups of cropmarks to the southeast (NHER 45215) and these are also thought to be late prehistoric in origin. A number of other multi-period fragmentary linear features and boundaries have also been recorded under this site.

A large number of prehistoric and Roman finds have been recovered within the area of this site. Unsurprisingly given the proximity to the Roman fort to the west, Roman finds predominate and this may suggest that these fields are Roman in date. Iron Age finds are noticeably absent across most of the area, which again may suggest that the fields are predominantly Roman in date. However they do not appear to follow the same alignment of other Roman features in the area. An excavated section of ditch, aligned N-S, has tentatively dated to the Iron Age period (NHER 23720) is located within the extent of these cropmarks. This was located within the Cherry Tree Holiday Park at TG 4901 0455. No ditches following the same alignment as the cropmarks were targeted during the excavation. However geophysics undertaken as part of the evaluation did reveal a linear anomaly roughly corresponding to one of the ditches mapped, see NHER 23720 for details.

The majority of the ditches are aligned NW-SE or NE-SW and appear to represent the fragments of dispersed field system potentially of several phases or spanning a considerable period. Many of the cropmarks are only visible on one set of aerial photographs and the evidence is quite fragmentary. It is therefore possible that some of the cropmarks are either agricultural or natural origin, however the consistent alignment of these fragmentary ditches would suggest that they are archaeological and contemporary. The arrangement and alignment of these ditches and field boundaries is also extremely similar to those recorded under NHER 45175 and 45215, to the southeast, which have also both been interpreted as being late prehistoric or Roman in date.

The cropmarks cover a wide area and are reasonably evenly spread across the site, although there are slight concentrations of features at TG 4847 0407, TG 4848 0481, TG 4902 0484 and TG 4935 0469. A number of double ditched linears are visible across the site and these are likely to represent trackways running through or alongside the fields, such as the intermittent double ditched running from TG 4823 0419 to TG 4851 0441. The majority of these ditches are relatively narrow, approximately 1m across or less. The fragmentary and multi-phase nature of the site, in conjunction with the uncertainty over the archaeological origin of some of the cropmarks, makes it hard to provide an assessment of overall average field size and pattern. The southeastern part of the site appears to consist of fields and enclosures of greater regularity and more co-axial arrangement than the rest of the site, in particular in the area of Mill Farm, centred on TG 4859 0391 and TG 4867 0418 (S5, S8-S9). It is possible that these represent a separate phase within the wider multi-phase field system. Although again the fragmentary nature of the features make it hard to measure distinct units, many of the fields in this area appear to be approximately 45m across.

Within the eastern part of the site are two possible enclosures that appear better defined than the surrounding fragmentary fields. To the east of Mill Road at TG 4915 0471 is a probable rectangular enclosure (S4), only part of which is visible due to the lack of cropmark response in the field to the immediate south in 1970. The enclosure, which measures approximately 80m by 50m, appears to be defined by multiple ditches to the east and this may be an elongated corridor or enclosed space alongside the enclosure. To the south of Market Road at TG 4959 0492 is another possible sub-rectangular enclosure with a central ring ditch (S4). The enclosure measures 22m by 25m and the northern and western ditches are quite broad, up to 2m wide. The central ring ditch is 5m in diameter and is likely to represent the remains of a roundhouse or similar structure. This southeastern part of this enclosure appears to be overlain by another enclosure (NHER 49227). This enclosure with the central roundhouse has been recorded as part of this wider spread of late prehistoric fields and enclosures, although it is possible that it is related to the smaller group of fields, also probably of late prehistoric date, that have been recorded separately under NHER 49228 due to a slight difference in alignment.
S. Massey (NMP), 23 October 2006.

March 2016. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site of proposed extension to Welcome Pit quarry.
Although the excavated trenches coincided with several of the cropmarks mapped at this location none appeared to be associated with surviving sub-surface remains. Evidence for activity prior to the post-medieval period was limited to a small number of prehistoric worked flints and a single abraded fragment of Roman tile.
See report (S11) and NHER 58138 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 21 July 2023.

November-December 2019. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of land adjacent to Cherry Tree Holiday Park.
Evaluation of land adjacent to Cherry Tree Holiday Park.
Although the excavated trenches coincided with a number of the fragmentary cropmarks mapped at this location the majority were found to have no surviving sub-surface remains. A range of ditches were though uncovered, several of which do appear to potentially relate to cropmarks. Unfortunately these features mostly produced no dating evidence. The one exception was the north-north-east to south-south-west aligned cropmark at TG 4880 0469, which was potentially associated with a similarly-aligned ditch that produced a single pottery sherd of probable Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date.
See report (S12) and NHER 69739 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 25 February 2026.

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 (S13) for further details.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk County Council Environment Team), 22 March 2023.