NHER 9602 (Monument record) - Site of possible ring ditch or small enclosure of probable prehistoric date

Square cropmark on RAF aerial photograph 16 April 1946.
E. Rose (NAU).

February 2010. Norfolk NMP.
A possible small curvilinear enclosure or ring ditch of probable prehistoric date is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S2)-(S4), centred at TG 2474 0524. This probably equates to the ‘square cropmark’ described above, although there is no obvious sign of archaeological features on the photographs that have been consulted of the date specified above (S5)-(S6). The site lies on the northeastern edge of one of the most intensive areas of prehistoric funerary/ceremonial monuments in Norfolk, focussed around the confluence of the rivers Yare and Tas, and the henge or henge-like monument at Arminghall (NHER 6100), 1km to the northwest. It is possible that the ring ditch, which contains possible traces of an internal mound (visible on (S4)), represents the site of a levelled Bronze Age round barrow, one of numerous such features known from the area. Alternatively it could be a small enclosure of some sort, although a prehistoric date and ceremonial and/or funerary function would again seem likely. At the same time, the possibility of a modern, perhaps agriculture- or drainage-related origin for the cropmark cannot be ruled out entirely. A second possible ring ditch visible immediately adjacent to its west is thought to be of natural origin (and consequently has not been mapped) as several other curvilinear marks of similar size and obviously non-archaeological origin are visible in the same field.
The ring ditch or enclosure is broadly curvilinear, tending towards D-shaped in plan, and measures 20m long and 19.5m wide. It is impossible to be certain, but the gap in the ditch circuit on its western side could feasibly represent a genuine entrance.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 1 February 2010.