NHER 57380 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Possible Bronze Age round barrow

July 2012. Norfolk NMP.
Cropmarks of a possible Bronze Age round barrow are visible on aerial photographs (S1) to the east of Low Barn Farm, Quidenham.
The site is centred on TM 0222 0857, and the ring ditch itself measures 30m in external diameter, 26m internally. It appears to enclose a probable berm of around 2m in width, visible between the ring ditch and an internal mound, which measures approximately 21m in diameter. A Late Bronze Age awl (NHER 31410) has been recovered approximately 100m to north, down a slope towards the River Wittle.
The cropmarks of this site are slightly peculiar in that the ditch is showing as a lighter mark against darker cropmarks which are caused by the patterned ground of underlying geology. This differential showing of the ditch material could be due to the inclusion of mound material within it, or just the fact it is dug against the patterned ground geology which may mean it drains more quickly than the land around it.
There are also a number of ditch cropmarks visible to the south, some of which are depicted on the Tithe Map of the area (S2) and have not been mapped, others have been recorded as NHER 57381. A further possible ring ditch is visible approximately 450m to the north (NHER 57382).
E. Bales (NMP), 04 July 2012.