NHER 53218 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of Roman road

November 2009. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a former stretch of Roman road are visible on aerial photographs running from the Shotesham Road to the southeast of Howe (S1-S5). This stretch of road forms the most significant and coherent part of a longer stretch of Roman road (NHER 52298) which runs across the former Poringland Heath and joining with the Roman road to Ditchingham, Stone Street, at Brooke to the southeast. The northwestern end of this road links with the Roman road (NHER 30288) running east from the Roman town of Venta Icenorum. The site is centred on TG 2697 0033, running from TG 2775 9947 to TG 2623 0112 for just over 2km. The route of the road is clearly visible on aerial photographs taken during the hot dry summers of 1976 (S1) and 1996 (S2) and also on Google Earth imagery from 2006 (S5).
The former road is visible as a series of parchmarks over the former road surface or agger, ranging in width from 10m (in the area of TG 2697 0032) to 16m (in the area of TG 2642 0092) (S5). In-between TG 2651 0081 and TG 2685 0045 the road is only really detectable from the outer ditches, with very little survival of the road surface (or not enough to produce a parchmark). Where the bank is visible it is only generally the outer sections. This may be due to the differential height and survival of the worn Roman road surface. The roadside ditches, where visible, are 15-20m apart. However in places, in particular to the south of Dove Lane, the outer ditches are not detectable at all, with only sections of the road surface being visible.
To either side of this road a series of broadly parallel or perpendicular fragmentary ditches have been identified on the aerial photographs and it is possible that some of these are part of a contemporary landscape of fields, see NHER 53224. Another section of road or track crosses this road at TG 2698 0030 (NHER 53219), this obviously post-dates the main Roman road but it is possible that it is also broadly Roman in date. A possible circular structure, tentatively identified as a Roman temple (NHER 53220) may be located to the side of the main road at TG 2669 0060. Although the archaeological interpretation of this feature is extremely uncertain and it may represent an infilled pit or similar feature, see NHER 53220 for details.
S. Horlock (NMP), 05 November 2009.

November 2025. HER Enhancement: Forestry Commission Project K.
Sections of the Roman road (centred at TG 2701 0027) are visible as very low earthworks on visualised lidar from a survey flown in 2021 (S6) and as a cropmark on recent (2022) aerial photographs (S7-S8).
J. Powell (Norfolk County Council Environment Service), 06 November 2025

December 2025. HER Enhancement: Forestry Commission Project K.
A section of the Roman road (centred at TM 2743 9981) is visible as cropmark on Bing imagery (S8).
J. Powell (Norfolk County Council Environment Service), 08 December 2025