NHER 51021 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Site of possible Neolithic long barrow or mortuary enclosure

OF THE CROPMARKS DESCRIBED BELOW, ONLY THOSE OF A SMALL, ELONGATED ENCLOSURE ARE STILL RECORDED UNDER THIS NUMBER. THE REMAINDER ARE NOW RECORDED AS PART OF AN EXTENSIVE, MULTI-PHASE GROUP OF FIELD SYSTEMS (NHER 50811). THE TRACKWAY, TOGETHER WITH SOME OTHER CROPMARKS IN THIS FIELD, FORM PART OF A DISTINCT PHASE WITHIN THIS GROUP, AND CONSEQUENTLY ARE NOW ALSO RECORDED AS NHER 50818.

Cropmarks formerly recorded under NHER 18329.

11 July 1980.
Cropmarks of enclosures and double-ditched trackway running NNW-SSE visible on (S1).
S.L. Norton & E. Rose (NAU), 20 August 1982.

19 June 1996. NLA air photography.
Cropmark of parallel linear feature visible, trackway rather than road potentially, visible on (S2).
S. Massey (NLA), 13 August 2001.

January 2008. Norfolk NMP.
Of the cropmarks described above, only those of a small, elongated enclosure are still recorded under this number. The remainder are now recorded as part of an extensive, multi-phase group of field systems (NHER 50811). The trackway, together with some other cropmarks in this field, form part of a distinct phase within this group, and consequently are also now recorded as NHER 50818.

Of the ‘enclosures’ described above, only one is clearly visible. This is a small, elongated, slightly trapezoidal, ditched enclosure, visible as a cropmark on the aerial photographs (S3)-(S6), centred at TG 2705 1474. Its morphology and topographical location, adjacent to a spring and the cropmarks of a probable palaeochannel, suggest it perhaps represents the site of a Neolithic long barrow or mortuary enclosure. Prehistoric material, including some of probable Neolithic date, has been recovered from the vicinity (NHER 18329 and 12630, for example), and other prehistoric funerary monuments have been identified to the north (e.g. NHER 50816, a Bronze Age linear barrow cemetery) and west (e.g. NHER 50804, a ring ditch). These seemingly flank both sides of Dobb’s Beck, a tributary of the River Bure, which is fed by the spring shown on modern maps 130m to the northwest of the site. The enclosure is surrounded by the cropmarks of multi-period field boundaries and trackways (NHER 50811), all of which are presumably of later date. At the same time, however, it should be noted that the origin and archaeological significance of the cropmarks described here is not entirely certain. The long sides of the enclosure are oriented virtually parallel to the modern tramlines, and a more recent, agricultural origin is possible. Nevertheless, the enclosure is visible on aerial photographs taken over a number of years, and is therefore more likely than not to be genuine.

The enclosure is slightly trapezoidal in plan, with one terminal end rounded, the other straight. It measures approximately 20.5m long and 12.5m wide.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 23 January 2008.