Record Details
| NHER Number: | 12848 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Cropmarks of a probable Bronze Age ring ditch/round barrow |
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Summary
A ring ditch, probably the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow, is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. Other ring ditches have been identified in the vicinity, including a small nucleated barrow cemetery (NHER 38580) to the northeast, to which this ring ditch probably acts as an outlier. Although its identification as a Bronze Age barrow is not certain, this topographical location and proximity to other evidence of prehistoric ceremonial and funerary activity suggests that this is the most plausible interpretation.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 2015 3696 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG23NW |
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| Parish: | SUSTEAD, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE RING DITCH IDENTIFIED ON 1 JULY 1977 (LOCATED AT TG 2016 3697) THE RING DITCHES DESCRIBED BELOW ARE NOW RECORDED AS NHER 38580 AND 38581.
1 July 1977.
Ring ditch cropmark.
31 July 1977.
Increased to six - possibly seven - ring ditches.
D. Edwards (NAU) 18 March 1981.
27 July 1994. NLA air photography.
Additional ring ditch outside NHER map site boundary.
Northern ring ditch is double-ditched.
M. Brennand (NLA) 1 September 2001
June 2004, Norfolk NMP.
With the exception of the ring ditch identified on 1 July 1977 (located at TG 2016 3697) the ring ditches described above are now recorded as NHER 38580 and 38581. It should be noted that NMP mapping identified only five ring ditches in this field which were clearly of archaeological origin. NMP mapping has also led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 2018 3699 to TG 2016 3697.
The ring ditch described above is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1-2), centred at TG 2016 3697. Its morphology, topographical setting and proximity to other prehistoric ceremonial and funerary monuments suggest that it represents the remains of a Bronze Age round barrow. In particular, it may have been an outlier of the barrow cemetery (NHER 38580) 180m to its northeast. Unmapped linear ditches visible as cropmarks on the same aerial photographs in the vicinity of the ring ditch appear to be post-medieval field boundaries shown on historic maps and what are likely to be post-medieval or modern field drains.
The ring ditch is circular in plan and measures approximately 29m in diameter. It is not clear whether the break in the north side of the ditch is a genuine causeway or a product of the cropmark being masked. Possible internal pits are visible on Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photography images (S3) but these are impossible to distinguish from the background geology and have not been mapped.
See (S1-3).
S. Tremlett (NMP) 7 June 2004.
Monument Types
- RING DITCH (Unknown date)
- RING DITCH (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- ROUND BARROW (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| --- | Aerial Photograph: TG 2037A-B, TG 2036E-L, TG 2036 Q-R, CUCAP BZD 27-8. |
| --- | Aerial Photograph: TG 2037/ K., L. |
| --- | Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1994. TG 2037M - S. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| <S1> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1977. NHER TG 2036H (NLA 53/AKP15) 31-JUL-1977. |
| <S2> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1994. NHER TG 2037N (NLA 344/GZD3 27-JUL-1994. |
| <S3> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: CUCAP. 1976. NHER TG 2036Q-R (CUCAP BZD27-8) 05-JUL-1976. |
Related records
| 38581 | Related to: Cropmarks of a probable Bronze Age round barrow (Monument) |
| 38580 | Related to: Cropmarks representing a probable Bronze Age barrow cemetery (Monument) |
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