NHER 50722 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Site of possible ring ditch of unknown date, near Stonehouse Bridge

January 2008. Norfolk NMP.
A possible ring ditch is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), centred at TG 2960 1529. Its date and function are not known. If it is a genuine archaeological feature, it could represent the site of a Bronze Age round barrow, although it is rather small for such sites. More probably, it could mark the site of a round house of later prehistoric or Roman date, perhaps associated with the multi-phase field systems that surround it, specifically NHER 50726 for which a similar date range can be postulated. Alternatively, a much more recent origin, perhaps associated with the nearby World War Two airfield (NHER 8170), or with the railway line (NHER 13586) 60m to its east, is also possible. At the same time, it should be noted that on the consulted aerial photographs the archaeological significance of the cropmarks is not entirely convincing, and the possibility that they are of geological or recent agricultural origin cannot be ruled out. Similar interpretations and uncertainties apply to the larger ring ditch (NHER 50721) visible 21m to the south on the same aerial photographs, which may be a contemporary feature.
The ring ditch is broadly circular in plan and measures 5.5m in diameter. A break in the ditch circuit on its east side represents the cropmark being masked, and not necessarily the presence of a causeway or entrance.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 23 January 2008.