NHER 51973 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of possible Late prehistoric to Roman ditches and pits

March 2009. Norfolk NMP.
A series of ditches and pits of possible late prehistoric to Roman date were visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S3) centred at TG 2864 0925. They stretch across three fields, and the northernmost field has been subject to archaeological excavation (NHER 31108), which revealed a series of Roman pottery kilns dated to the later 2nd century, as well as several Roman ditch features, and ditches and pits dated to the late prehistoric period.

Whilst it was not possible to directly correlate any of the features identified from the aerial photographs with those excavated here, it is clear that the ditches share the same alignment and are likely to relate to the late prehistoric to Roman period, being unrelated to the modern field pattern. They seem to form field boundaries approximately 60 in width by up to 90m in length, and more than one phase may be present, indicated by the change of alignment from the north-northeast-south-southwest ditch to a northwest-southeast section which appears to overlie it, visible at TG 2857 0921. Fieldwalking of this area has recovered worked flint, pot boilers and Roman pottery sherds, (NHER 30931) and whilst the field to the east (NHER 34970) has produced Early Saxon, medieval and post medieval finds, the ditch features and possible enclosure at TG 2885 0912 are aligned in a similar way to the prehistoric to Roman features.

Seven pit features were also recorded to the south of the area, centred on TG 2869 0916, ranging in diameter from 2.7m to 9m. It is possible that these relate to waste disposal from the nearby kiln site, or possibly, to evidence for further kilns in the area. They may, however, represent natural solution features, as several other such features were visible in the surrounding area, which, being less distinct, have been interpreted as geological.
E. Bales (NMP), 11 March 2009.

January-February 2010. Trial Trenching.
33 trenches excavated in eastern field, two of which were placed to target the easternmost cropmarks in this group. Only one of these north-to-south aligned cropmarks was found to correspond with a surviving sub-surface feature. This was one of a number of similarly-aligned ditches revealed during this work, although unfortunately none produced convincing dating evidence.
See NHER 60055 for further details.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 8 May 2014.

May 2015. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of land east of Peacham Way.
This survey identified no clear evidence for surviving sub-surface remains associated with the cropmarks that fall within the area examined. It is though noted that the data is slightly noisier that would normally be expected and that the low apparent magnetic susceptibility (and hence magnetic contrast) may have hindered the recognition of sub-surface remains.
The one response of note was an east-to-west aligned linear anomaly at TG 2868 0933. Although this lay equidistant between two similarly-aligned cropmarks it is uncertain whether they are related.
See report (S4) and NHER 31108 and NHER 64658 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 7 March 2021.

March 2021. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of land to east of Peachman Way.
Two of the trenches coincided with the east-north-east to west-south-west aligned cropmark at TG 2869 0924, one of which revealed a corresponding ditch. A ditch terminus in the same trench was potentially a continuation of a north-to-south cropmark recorded to the north at TG 2868 0930. Unfortunately, no dating evidence was recovered from either feature.
There was no evidence for surviving sub-surface remains associated with fragmentary cropmarks recorded in the vicinity of TG 2869 0920.
Three of the large sub-circular cropmarks recorded to the south were found to correspond with large probable quarry pits. The small number of finds recovered suggests that these pits were of relatively recent date.
See report (S5) and NHER 64658 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 10 May 2021. Amended 27 July 2023.