NHER 51998 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of a series of boundary ditches, enclosures and ponds of probable medieval to post medieval date

March 2009. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a series of boundary ditches and pits of probable medieval to post medieval date are visible on aerial photographs to the west of Church Farm, Swainsthorpe, (S1-S2). The site is centred on TG 2153 0101. It seems likely that the cropmarks relate to a series of boundary ditches and enclosed areas of pasture or fields or potentially even relate to a former domestic site that formed part of the medieval settlement of Swainsthorpe.
These linear and pit-like features are visible as broad areas of lodged crops in 1992 (S1), potentially suggesting substantial underlying ditches that have produced excessively tall crop growth that has fallen and become lodged. It is possible that some of the smaller, more irregular areas of lodging relate to non-archaeological features, such as patches of higher crop over geological or pedological cropmarks. It is possible that the more irregular cropmarks at TG 2158 0103 combine both archaeological and geological components, as linear elements can be identified within a broader area of amorphous pit-like features. The fact that some of the more minor linear segments of lodged cropmark in 1992 roughly follow the alignment of the agricultural tramlines could suggest that some of the areas of cropmark have responding to agricultural factors and not archaeological. Only the more substantial linear ditch-like features are visible as cropmarks in 1996 (S2), which could suggest that the more minor and irregular areas of lodging in 1992 were the result of a combination of recent agricultural practices and underlying geological factors. However these differences may be the result of different years cropmark response and cannot be taken to definitely indicate that the non-archaeological origin of the more minor features.
It seems likely that the cropmarks relate to a series of boundary ditches and enclosed areas of pasture or fields or potentially even relate to a former domestic site that formed part of the medieval settlement of Swainsthorpe. The natures of the elongated pits and/or short ditch segments are harder to interpret. Feasibly some of them could relate to sunken-floored structures of a medieval date, although on the current aerial photographic evidence such an interpretation cannot really be substantiated.
S. Horlock (NMP), 23 March 2009.