NHER 50649 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Bronze Age round barrow cemetery

October 2007. Norfolk NMP.
A group of five ring ditches are visible on aerial photographs to the northeast of Morton village, indicating the presence of a former Bronze Age round barrow cemetery (NHER 17657, 21719, 30313, 50621, 50647) (S1-S6). The site is centred on TG 1249 1713 and is positioned to the immediate south of the River Wensum, along the valley floor and possibly on the edge of the river terrace. The presence of a barrow cemetery in this general area was noted in the 1830s. The site originally formed part of a dispersed cemetery (NHER 7728) said to have contained up to eleven barrows on Morton Common (exact location unknown). It is therefore possible that some components of this group (NHER 50649), along with NHER 50646 to the north and NHER 50662 to the west, correspond with the earthworks recorded in the 1830s, although only NHER 7718 (part of cemetery NHER 50646) still survives as an earthwork today.
S. Massey (NMP), 22 October 2007.

February-March 2017. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of site on possible route of Hornsea Project Three offshore wind farm onshore cable.
This survey identified weak circular anomalies that correspond with two of the four ring-ditch cropmarks that fall within the area examined (NHERs 21719 and 50621). There was no evidence for sub-surface remains associated with the ring-ditches recorded as NHERs 17657 and 50647. A curvilinear anomaly in the south-east corner of the site at TG 1268 1695 may represent the remains of another, previously unidentified barrow.
Information from draft report. See NHER 66314 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 19 February 2025.