NHER 50985 (Monument record) - Site of probable late medieval or early post medieval banked enclosures and double-ditched trackway on the western edge of former Sprowston Common

October 2008. Norfolk NMP.
Soil and germination marks visible on aerial photographs (S1)-(S4) in this area relate to a linear arrangement of rectilinear banked enclosures, ranged along a partially double-ditched trackway, for which a late medieval or early post medieval date seems likely. The site is centred at TG 2543 1271.

The site is located on the western edge of the area shown on Faden’s 1797 Map of Norfolk (S4) as Sprowston Common, just to the north of Mousehold heath and Ravensgate Way, as shown on a 16th century map reproduced by Rye (S5). It seems likely that these soil and cropmarks represent settlement or enclosure at the edge of the common or heath. Common-edge settlements are a characteristic feature of the Norfolk landscape, with significant settlement migration away from the common edge occurring during the medieval period, and comparison can be drawn with similar sites (NHER 50727, 50728, 50729 and 50730) to the north-east, in Rackheath, recorded as part of the Norfolk ALSF NMP project (S6).

A probable trackway, oriented approximately north-to-south, is visible between TG 2545 1286 and TG 2547 1255. A ‘gap’ of approximately 37m is evident at its centre, where the cropmark is cut or masked by a modern field boundary. To the north the trackway is defined by a single ditch adjacent to an enclosure embankment. Here the ditch appears to correlate with a feature (context 151) excavated during an archaeological watching brief carried out by NAU in 2003 (NHER 37170). This excavated ditch was similar in width to the feature visible on the aerial photographs (approximately 2m wide), and was assigned a possible post-medieval date (S7). To the south, the trackway is defined by a double ditch for approximately 145m from TG 2546 1269 to TG 2547 1255. It is quite possible that this southern feature is part of the same ditch that can be seen in the field to the north, as its varying width continues to be a significant part of its character. Here it is visible running parallel to a narrower, more regular and more intermittent ditch approximately 5m to its west, and it would appear that the two ditches make up part of a trackway.

To the west of the enclosure ditch or trackway feature, a number of interlinked bank features are visible (S2), centred around TG 2540 1271, which appear to relate to enclosures or land division in the medieval to post medieval period. The parcels of land they divide vary in size from approximately 17m by 18m to 96m by 148m, but respect the position of the ditch or trackway. Some elements of the enclosure appear to be double-ditched (at TG 2540 1285 and TG 2542 1263).
There are also a number of short linear features to the east of the trackway centred around TG 2551 1263 (the longest of which measures approximately 50m). They appear to run almost perpendicular to the trackway, and may represent further embanked enclosures. They look similar in terms of alignment and spacing to those described above, so may mark further enclosures to the east of the trackway. It is also possible that they relate to informal land drainage features on Sprowston common during the medieval to post medieval period. It is likely that the bank features continue to the west, where they have been recorded as NHER 52125.
E. Bales (NMP), 29 October 2008.