NHER 50632 (Monument record) - Earthworks and cropmarks of former roads of probable medieval to post medieval date

September 2007. Norfolk NMP
Earthworks and cropmarks of former roads or tracks of probable medieval date are visible on aerial photographs (S1-S2). Parallel linear ditch earthworks are present on a roughly southwest to northeast alignment to the east of Vale Farm (S1). These define part of a former road or track that continues to the northeast as the modern Field Lane. This road was marked on Faden’s 1797 county map (S3) and is shown as being located at the northern edge of Hoe Common. Cropmarks indicate that the road originally continued to the southwest of Vale Farm (NHER 50631) although this is not clearly indicated on Faden’s map. The field to the east of Vale Farm was in arable cultivation by 1998 and the earthworks had been levelled (S2). Cropmarks of a separate section of possible road, comprising of a compacted or metalled surface flanked by ditches, were then present on a more west to east alignment than the earthworks. It is likely that they relate to another section of road across the edge of the former common. It is possible that they are related to the Fen Causeway Roman road (NHER 2796) which appears to deviate from its previously straight course in this area. However, in the absence of any clear evidence for the continuation of the Roman road further to the east, any association remains unconfirmed.
J. Albone (NMP), 24 September 2007

February 2024. Wendling Beck and Fransham Aerial Investigation and Mapping (AIM) Project (volunteer strand).
Poorly-defined earthworks visible on visualised lidar data (S4), from a survey flown in 2017, probably relate to the medieval (more probably medieval to post medieval) roads described above.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 13 February 2024.