NHER 50743 (Monument record) - Possible track or hollow way of probable medieval or post medieval date in Rackheath Park

December 2007. Norfolk NMP.
A possible track or hollow way is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs (S1)-(S3), between TG 2713 1369 and TG 2700 1351. The interpretation of the feature is somewhat uncertain, as it may simply represent a canalised channel or gully of natural origin. It does not look particularly wet, however, suggesting that it does not represent a watercourse, and the aerial photographic evidence suggests it has been used as a track in the 20th century. It is located at the northernmost end of Rackheath Park (NHER 30518), and given its location, form and survival, a medieval and/or post medieval date seems likely. It may relate to other tracks, some of them sunken, visible across the park, which are also depicted on historic maps, such as the Ordnance Survey 2nd edition 25 inch (S4)-(S5), and/or remain in use. The feature described here might also represent an earlier or subsidiary course of Wroxham Road, which lies a short distance to the northwest. More recent aerial photographs indicate that much of the site has since been ploughed, although even here earthworks may survive in a reduced form. Whether more substantial earthworks survive in Upper Blacksmith’s Wood at the northern end of the site is not known.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 7 December 2007.