NHER 54929 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks of post-medieval and undated field boundaries, post-medieval or earlier trackway and undated enclosure

September 2006.
Google Earth imagery shows a rectilinear enclosure within a multi period finds site (NHER 41835).
See (S1) for further details.
D. Lefeuvre (NLA), 4 October 2010.

November 2010. Aerial Photograph interpretation.
A possible prehistoric field system which includes a number of linear ditch features that could be field boundaries. There are also some enclosures and a possible ring-ditch, long barrow and ovoid enclosure. It’s possible that these features may date to the Neolithic/Bronze Age.
See (S2).
J. Yates (HES), 11 November 2010.

A range of cropmarks representing a trackway, small enclosures and various former field boundaries are visible on aerial imagery captured of this site in various different years. The main groups are most distinct on Google Earth imagery from 2006 (S2), but additional, outlying cropmarks can be seen on subsequent Google Earth imagery from 2019 (S3), 2020 (S4) and 2021 (S5), as well as undated (but recent) Bing Maps imagery (S6).
One of the most distinctive features is an extensive, roughly north-to-south aligned trackway crossing the westernmost of the two central fields. This feature corresponds with a trackway shown on the North Walsham tithe map (S7) and a number of perpendicular cropmarks relate to former field boundaries on this map, as do several of the outlying cropmarks. It is though clear that this trackway (and presumably elements of the associated field system) had earlier origins, as the cropmarks evidence shows it originally continued into the field to the south (at least as far as TG 2731 2861), where a number of adjoining enclosures are also visible as cropmarks – none of which appear on any of the available historic maps. There is also cropmark evidence that a trackway to the south originally extended to the west of its present termination at TG 2723 2848, presumably connecting with the extant trackway to the west. The northernmost of the two linear cropmarks that probably represent ditches bounding this lost section of trackway has a large gap, flanked to the north by two perpendicular linear cropmarks.
Various linear cropmarks display markedly different orientations to those of the late post-medieval field boundaries and it is presumably these north-west to south-east and north-east to south-west aligned features that were previously identified as potentially representing elements of a prehistoric field system. A particularly distinct group of these features can be seen at the northern end of the two central fields, with additional north-west to south-east and north-east to south-west aligned features also visible in the northernmost field on (S6) and in the southernmost fields on (S4) and (S5). A small square or rectangular enclosure visible at the northern edge of the western central field (TG 2724 2940) on (S2) displays a similar alignment and is therefore also potentially associated with this earlier system of land division, as are a discrete group of similarly-aligned enclosures and field boundaries recorded a little way to the north (NHER 69666).
The feature referred to above as a long barrow is almost certainly a small rectangular enclosure at TG 2727 2916, although this interpretation is no longer thought likely. The function and age of this enclosure (now recorded separately as NHER 69664) are therefore uncertain. This review of the available aerial imagery failed to identify anything that could be reasonably described as a ring-ditch, although a number of such features have been recorded in the vicinity of this site.
P. Watkins (HES), 14 January 2026.

October 2022-February 2023. Geophysical Survey.
Magnetometer survey of large potential development site.
All but the southernmost of the cropmarks in this group fell within the areas examined, with the majority found to be associated with evidence for surviving subsurface remains. Unsurprisingly, all of the cropmarks associated with the field boundaries and trackway shown on the North Walsham tithe map (S7) were found to be associated with fairly distinct responses. The survey did though also identified linear anomalies associated with the small enclosure at TG 2724 2940 and a number of the north-west to south-east and north-east to south-west aligned cropmarks that are also likely to represent elements of an earlier system of land division.
See report (S8) and NHERs 69649, 69650 and 69682 for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 14 January 2026.