NHER 51965 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Soilmarks and/or cropmarks of a possible ring ditch

February 2009. Norfolk NMP.
The soilmarks and/or cropmarks of a possible ring ditch, potentially representing the remains of a Bronze Age barrow are visible on aerial photographs to the west of the River Tas (S1). The site is centred on TG 2343 0476. This ring ditch may have formed part of a cemetery (NHER 51965) that overlooks the river and is located approximately 650m to the south of the hengiform monument and possible mortuary and/or ceremonial enclosure at Markshall (NHER 9582-3) and these form part of a wider group of ceremonial and funerary monuments focused on the confluence of the Rivers Tas and Yare. The line of the barrows are located in-between the 5m and 10m contours, overlooking the Tas valley to the east.
The possible ring ditch is incomplete and is visible as around two thirds of a possible circular feature. The ring ditch, if complete, would have been approximately 18m in diameter. This feature is only clearly visible as either a soilmark or as a germination mark (or both) on aerial photographs from mid May 1970 (S1). The feature cannot be detected on aerial photographs dating two weeks earlier (S2), so it remains a possibility that the feature has been created by agricultural activity in the field during that period. However the fact that it appears to follow the linear alignment of the barrow cemetery may indicate that it is in fact the remains of an additional barrow.
S. Horlock (NMP), 27 February 2009.