NHER 44984 (Monument record) - Cropmarks of enclosures, fields and trackways of unknown definite date

September 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of enclosures, fields and trackways of unknown definite date are visible on aerial photographs to the north of Burgh Road, Wheatacre (S1). The site is centred on TM 4693 9463. The date of these cropmarks is uncertain and a Roman or medieval is suggested, as is a long developmental sequence potentially spanning both periods. A series of enclosures and fields of possible late prehistoric to Roman date are also visible (NHER 44981, 44983).

The site appears to be centred around two trackways, running from TM 4677 9454 to TM 4701 9467 and joining at TM 4686 9475. The trackways are quite sinuous and irregular in course and exhibit signs of possible recutting and braiding. A series of enclosures and field boundaries have developed around these two trackways. The fields to the east of the site are aligned slightly differently to those at the west and appear to line up with the ditches of the earlier field system and enclosure recorded under NHER 44981 and 44983. This probably indicates that this group of sites developed from and make reference to one another. The alignment of these field boundaries is also noticeably consistent with that exhibited by the enclosures and fields of a probable Roman date within the area (NHER 16005 and 45018).

The enclosures and fields associated with the western trackway appear to have a slightly different alignment and this is more consistent with the medieval and post medieval landscape. The trackways runs broadly parallel with the post medieval trackway to the west, which is marked on the 1840 Wheatacre Tithe map. The cropmarks also suggest that the trackway originally turned to the west and this may have joined up with the post medieval trackway to the west that ran parallel to Burgh Road (NHER 44893). This could suggest that all the trackways and associated enclosures are medieval to post medieval in date, although the more easterly seem to have closer links to earlier elements in the landscape. It is possible that the trackways stayed in use for a considerable period and that elements of the Roman landscape persisted into the medieval.
S. Massey (NMP), 01 September 2006.