NHER 50862 (Monument record) - Cropmarks of trackways, boundaries, an enclosure of possible late prehistoric to Roman date

Some of these cropmarks were previously recorded under NHER 32197.

March 2008. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of fragmentary trackways, boundaries and a possible rectilinear enclosure of possible late prehistoric to Roman date, are visible on aerial photographs to the south of Swanton Morley airfield . (S1-S2). Finds of a Roman date in the general vicinity of the site could indicate a Roman date (NHER 2995), although a more general Bronze Age to Roman date is suggested as the site may include several phases of ditches. The site is centred on TG 0030 1809.

The cropmarks are quite fragmentary and are located within an area of geological cropmarks. It is feasible that some of the features mapped are in fact of non-archaeological origin. The possible rectilinear enclosure feature tentatively identified at TG 0039 1812 is located on the extreme edge of the photographic frame and within an area of geological patterning. The archaeological origin of this possible enclosure is therefore uncertain. Further photography would be needed to further interpret the nature of these cropmarks.

The trackway to the west of the site consists of a series of braided linear features suggesting that it has been used and recut over a long period of time. The cropmarks are located to the immediate north of a pair of Bronze Age round barrows (NHER 29559 and 32197). It would seem that the possible trackway ran in between the two monuments, indicating that they were probably still extant at the time of establishment of the trackway.

None of the cropmarks mapped show any relationships with the post medieval boundaries visible on the available historic maps of the area, such as the tithe and enclosure maps. This would suggest that the majority of the features are pre-post medieval and probably also pre-medieval, although it is possible that some of the cropmarks do date to this period. Although the trackway does not appear on any of the maps, it is worth noting that its alignment almost mirrors that of a trackway of probable medieval and/or post medieval date to the immediate west.
S. Massey (NMP), 03 March 2008.