NHER 53296 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of trackway or road of medieval to post medieval date

December 2009. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of trackway or road of medieval to post medieval date, with possible earlier origins, are visible on aerial photographs to the south of Abbott’s Lane, Poringland (S1-S4). The site is centred on TG 2553 0077 and consists of a possible intermittent trackway running from TG 2537 0065 to TG 2568 0090, defined by narrow parallel ditches, 10-15m apart. The clearest component of this site is a section of double ditch running diagonally across from a kink in Abbott’s Lane towards a kink in the field boundary to the southwest (S1-S4). This is depicted as a track or road on the 1838 West Poringland and Howe Tithe map (S5). A possible continuation of this route along broadly the same course further to the southwest may be visible as faint linear cropmarks (S3), although it is certainly not as clear as the northeastern end, which was obviously still in use as a trackway or road much later. The angle of kink in the field boundary would suggest that the track did continue along that course at some time previously. The date of the routeway is not certain and a medieval origin may be the most likely. However it may be worth noting that the northeastern part of the route (the section that remained in use) is similarly aligned as the probable Roman road to the west (NHER 53347), which also stayed in use into the post medieval period as a trackway and boundaries through Stoke Park (NHER 14240). It is therefore feasible that this trackway could also have a similarly long history, although there is little evidence to support a pre-medieval to post medieval date at present.
S. Horlock (NMP), 29 December 2009.