NHER 51937 (Monument record) - Medieval to post medieval curvilinear bank and ditches visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs

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Summary

A curvilinear bank and ditch feature and several undated fragmentary curvilinear ditches were visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. The western part of the bank appears to coincide with a field boundary on the first edition Ordnance Survey map, and the features have therefore been dated to the medieval to post medieval period. A trial trench excavated across one of these features in 2017 revealed a corresponding ditch that was found to contain a single sherd of medieval pottery.

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Location

Map sheet TG21SE
Civil Parish THORPE ST ANDREW, BROADLAND, NORFOLK

Map

November 2008. Norfolk NMP.
An undated curvilinear bank and ditch feature and several undated fragmentary curvilinear ditches were visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S5), centred on TG 2801 1042.
The northernmost bank and ditch feature stretched from from TG 2784 1046 to TG 2821 1046.The western part of the bank appears to coincide with a field boundary on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (S6), and the feature has therefore been dated to the medieval to post medieval period.
The other features were fragmentary, and only visible on one photograph each (S4)-(S5), neither of which had a stereo pair, and have therefore been tentatively included in the dating of the site.
E. Bales (NMP), 18 November 2008.

December 2016. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of possible development area.
This survey revealed no anomalies likely to represent surviving sub-surface features associated with the cropmarks recorded in this field. It should however be noted that it also failed to identify any evidence for a range of ditches and other features that were exposed during subsequent trial trenching.
See report (S7) and NHER 62536 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 February 2018.

January 2017. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site of proposed new road and associated infrastructure.
Although a number of trenches were excavated in this field, only one coincided with any of the previously mapped cropmarks. This trench was positioned over one of the extensive sinuous east-to-west aligned cropmarks and exposed that was almost certainly a corresponding ditch. This feature produced a single medieval pottery sherd. A medieval date was therefore thought likely for this and a number of other east-to-west and north-to-south aligned ditches identified in this field, although no other dating evidence was recovered. A trench that lay in an apparent gap in the main east-to-west aligned ditch and bank cropmark revealed no archaeological remains suggesting that this feature is indeed discontinuous.
See NHER 62536 and report (S8) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 February 2018.

  • <S1> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1951. RAF 58/700 (Vp4) 5045-6 31-MAY-1951 (NMR).
  • <S2> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1964. OS/64205 0013-4 22-SEP-1964 (NMR).
  • <S3> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1987. OS/87174 281-2 19-OCT-1987 (NMR).
  • <S4> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1990. OS/90224 052 31-JUL-1990 (NMR).
  • <S5> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1992. OS/92344 051 12-JUN-1992 (NMR).
  • <S6> Map: Ordnance Survey. 1884-1891. Ordnance Survey Map. Six inches to the mile. First Edition. 1:10,560.
  • <S7> Unpublished Contractor Report: Masters, P. 2017. Geophysical Survey of Land at Brook Farm, Phase 2, Norwich, Norfolk. Cranfield University. 137.
  • <S8> Unpublished Contractor Report: Morgan-Shelbourne, L. 2017. Brook Farm, Norfolk: Archaeological Trial Trench Evaluation and Monitoring. Pre-Construct Archaeology. R12806.

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Record last edited

Feb 12 2018 12:03PM

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