NHER 54503 (Monument record) - Undated, possibly partly Saxon, ditches and/or trackways

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Summary

A group of rather irregular and fragmentary ditches, possibly trackways, are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs. They are undated, but it is possible that at least some of the ditches are of Early Saxon date. Imagery from a lidar survey flown in 2015 indicates that some of the earthworks may still survive.

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Location

Map sheet TL88NW
Civil Parish THETFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Map

October 2010. Norfolk NMP.
Several earthwork banks and ditches are visible on aerial photographs (S1-S2) on land in the area of Two Mile Bottom, Thetford.
They are centred on TL 8497 8709, and at least two of the ditches to the southwest of the site appear to coincide with the excavated ditches in area F (S3) of the Two Mile Bottom excavation (NHER 5738). These ditches were dated to the Early Saxon period, therefore it is possible that the earthworks visible on the aerial photographs may have functioned as land division or field boundaries from this period.
It is also possible that the banks and ditches relate to later, medieval to post-medieval boundaries or tracks, perhaps associated with the fertiliser works (NHER 6531). They have since been ploughed level.
E. Bales (NMP), 18 October 2010.

November 2017. 'Brecks from Above' and Breckland National Mapping Programme.
This area has been re-mapped as part of the project [1]. Those features described above which lie to the north of the railway line are now recorded as NHER 62118.
The fragmentary, undated ditches, and short lengths of bank, described above are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs (S1) and (S4). At least some of the ditches could represent trackways. As described above, it is possible that some are of Early Saxon date. A group of ditches and banks recorded 100m to the north (NHER 62119) are similar in appearance and character and could be contemporary or related. Imagery from a recent lidar survey (S5) indicates that some of the earthworks may still survive, while others have been levelled or completely destroyed.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 23 November 2017.

  • <S1> Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1949. RAF 540/280 4002-3 15-NOV-1949 (NMR).
  • <S2> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1971. OS/71369 378-9 21-JUL-1971 (NMR).
  • <S3> Monograph: Bates, S. and Lyons, A.. 2003. The Excavation of Romano-British Pottery Kilns at Ellingham, Postwick and Two Mile Bottom, Norfolk 1995 to 1997.. East Anglian Archaeology Occasional Paper. Vol 13.
  • <S4> Vertical Aerial Photograph: Various. Vertical Aerial Photograph. RAF/CPE/UK/1918 RP 3083-3085 09-JAN-1947 (HEA Original Print).
  • <S5> LIDAR Airborne Survey: Various. LIDAR Airborne Survey. LIDAR Santon Forest Research 0.5m DTM 15-JUL-2015 (BNG Project, FC England, Fugro Geospatial).

Object Types (0)

Record last edited

Sep 18 2020 4:32PM

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