NHER 50603 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of a possible ring ditch

September 2007. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a possible ring ditch, potentially representing the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow or a Roman date structure, are visible on aerial photographs within arable to the north of Ringland village (S1). The site is centred on TG 1404 1450. This possible ring ditch is located in close proximity to an area of Roman settlement (NHER 50602) and it is therefore possible that it represents a broadly contemporary feature, possibly a structure or small enclosure. An alternative interpretation is that the feature represents a Bronze Age round barrow, the size and shape would be roughly consistent with a monument of this sort. A large number of prehistoric finds have been recovered from this general area (NHER 18048, 18050-1, 18053).
The ring ditch is oval in shape and measures 13.5m by 12m and has a break in the ditch, possibly an entrance, on the western side of the enclosure. The archaeological nature of this cropmark is uncertain and a number of features in this area, previously recorded as ring ditches (NHER 11711) have not been mapped due to a suspicion that they were geological in origin. This feature is only clearly visible in late June 1976 (S1) and therefore it is possible that archaeological sites normally too ephemeral to produce cropmarks are visible due to the improved cropmark conditions of summer 1976.
S. Massey (NMP), 12 September 2007.