NHER 52382 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of possible Iron Age to Roman linear trackway or field boundary

2007. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site on proposed line of Norwich Northern Distributor Road.
One of the three trenches excavated was positioned to investigate this extensive linear cropmark. The corresponding sub-surface feature was found to be a particularly substantial ditch that was up to 1.70m deep. Unfortunately no dating evidence was recovered. A small pit adjacent to the ditch was found to contain a human skull.
See report (S6) and NHER 63375 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 29 July 2015.

October 2009. Norfolk NMP.
A possible Iron Age to Roman trackway or field boundary is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1)-(S5), on land to the west of Furze Lane, Taverham, running south-west-north-east from TG 1656 1570 to TG 1663 1583. This feature is still traceable in the extant landscape as a field boundary to the north east.
It also runs parallel to several other linear features in the area (NHER 52376, 52379 and 52384), and perpendicular to two trackways (NHER 52377 and 52380), and may form part of a reasonably extensive field system, such as that recorded in the Broadland area of Norfolk (NHER 6096). Roman coins and a metal object have been recovered from this field, which would add weight to this hypothesis.
This cropmark has been investigated as part of the trial trenching assessment of the Norwich Northern Distributor Route (S6). Unfortunately no datable finds were recovered from the ditch during excavation. The substantial size of this ditch (5.40m in width) suggests that it was once a highly visible landscape feature, perhaps explaining why its line can be traced along the field boundaries to the north. A pit containing a disarticulated human skull was excavated nearby, which may be indicative of Iron Age activity, but this cannot be proven or disproved from the aerial photographic evidence.
E. Bales (NMP), October 2009.

2013. Desk-based Assessment.
Additional research indicates that to the north-east the line of this feature may be fossilised in a somewhat sinuous section of the Drayton/Felthorpe parish boundary. It is also suggested that it might form part of the boundary between Taverham and South Erpingham hundreds. The available evidence therefore points to this having been a significant landscape feature, perhaps of a similar nature to the linear earthworks known elsewhere in the county such as the Fossditch (NHER 1089), the Panworth Ditch (NHER 1002), the Launditch (NHER 7235)and Devil's Ditch (NHER 6115). These earthworks are generally regarded as being either Iron Age or Saxon in date.
See report (S7) and NHER 63375 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 15 May 2019.

April-August 2015. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site on proposed line of Norwich Northern Distributor Road (Field T7).
This large ditch was identified in two of the trenches excavated, with its presence in the northernmost conclusively demonstrating that it continued beyond the mapped extent of the cropmarks. As during the earlier work this was shown to be a deep, substantial feature, although a small number of later prehistoric flints were the only finds recovered from the single slot excavated. Several sherds of Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery were however also recovered from the surface of the unexcavated section in the second trench.
See report (S8) and NHER 63375 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 May 2019.

January-September 2016. Strip Map and Sample Excavation.
Excavation of site on route of Norwich Northern Distributor Road (Area 1 West).
A substantial section of this large ditch was exposed, which can now be reasonably regarded as a prehistoric feature. The additional slots excavated produced exclusively prehistoric finds, including more than 100 worked flints and sherds of ?Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age pottery, as well as a notable quantity of burnt flint. A Middle Bronze Age or later date for this substantial feature is supported by the worked flint assemblage, which largely consists of pieces typical of Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age industries.
Unfortunately radiocarbon dating of charred grain recovered from this ditch failed to return an accurate date (another attempt is to be made).
See NHER 63375 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 9 May 2019.