NHER 53501 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Boundaries of unknown date within Colton Wood

April 2010. Norfolk NMP.
Probable woodland boundaries of unknown date are visible as earthworks and vegetation marks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), predominantly at TG 1171 0874. They lie within Colton Wood, much of which, despite not being depicted on Faden’s map of 1797 (S3), is classified by Natural England as Replanted Ancient Woodland. The boundaries are predominantly visible as lines of vegetation, and only on aerial photographs from early 1946, so their precise nature is unclear: many of the banks could be ditches and vice versa. Only the substantial ditch, perhaps a trackway or hollow way, leading into the wood from the east is clearly visible as an earthwork. The function and date of the boundaries is also unclear, but given their context they seem likely to have defined woodland compartments, used in woodland management cycles, for example of felling or coppicing.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 23 April 2010.