NHER 61513 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Earthworks of mound of uncertain date and significance

September 2016. 'Brecks from Above' and Breckland National Mapping Programme.
The earthworks of sub-circular mound of uncertain date and significance are visible on the aerial photographs from 1946 (S1) and on the 0.5m resolution Lidar data (S2). The mound is traversed by a boundary depicted on the Ordnance Survey 1st edition map (S3) and the Hockwold cum Wilton 1838 Tithe map (S4), indicating that it is at least early nineteenth century in date.
The mound is located alongside the Brandon to Methwold road and the Saxon territorial boundary, the Fossditch (NHER 1089). The presence of dumps of soil – assumed to be the mound recorded here and NHER 61514 – at the junction of the Fossditch and the Methwold/Stoke Ferry road was noted in 1955 by Rainbird Clarke (S5) and it has been suggested that they were created when the road cut through the rampart of the Fossditch – as has also been suggested for larger nearby mound and/or barrow (NHER 4491). Given the location of the intersection of these two routes, the interpretation of spoil heaps is convincing. However, the mounds are extremely round and regular for spoil heaps and have no obvious signs of ramps or tip lines or irregular spreading on the lidar that might be expected with such features - other than two discreet dumps of material that post-date the post-medieval boundary running on top of the mound. The mounds are also located within the centre of a cluster of larger barrow mounds (NHER 4491, NHER 33605, and NHER 56274) which appear to form a barrow cemetery (NHER 61515). The possibility that these mounds are the remains of round barrows and not merely spoil heaps potentially requires further investigation on the ground.
The mound is approximately 16-18.5m across, possible traces of a slight ditch may be visible on the lidar, but this is not definite and has not been mapped.
S. Horlock (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 29 September 2016.