Record Details

NHER Number:13358
Type of record:Monument
Name:Cropmark of Neolithic causewayed enclosure

Summary

A Neolithic causewayed enclosure is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. It occupies a slight knoll or spur, overlooking minor tributaries of the River Bure to its south-west and east. By national standards it is relatively small and circular, a trend which is seen elsewhere in Norfolk (e.g. NHER 36398). It consists of a single circuit of causewayed ditch, comprising fourteen ditch segments, although a number of the causeways may have been removed or created within former ditches during the lifetime of the enclosure. Part of an internal timber palisade is visible concentric to the enclosure, as are a number of internal pits. Several ditches have been identified which may have been outlying features to the west and east of the enclosure. Two Neolithic long barrows or mortuary enclosures, and a possible round or oval barrow also likely to date to the Neolithic, lie just to its north (NHER 38485).

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 2202 3534
Map Sheet:TG23NW
Parish:ROUGHTON, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE CAUSEWAYED ENCLOSURE, THE CROPMARKS DESCRIBED BELOW ARE NOW RECORDED AS NHER 38485 (THE LONG BARROWS) AND NHER 38497 (THE RECTILINEAR ENCLOSURE OR LINEAR DITCHES).

1977 to 1990. NAU air photography.
Cropmarks of very large interrupted circular ditch, straight sided enclosure with rounded ends, slightly tapering, and portion of a second.
Also various linear features.
Suggested as causewayed camp and long barrows by D. Edwards (NAU).
See (S1).
Plans in file.

28 June 1996. NLA air photography.
Cropmarks of causewayed enclosure and long barrow still visible.
Two linears appear to be cut by or respecting the causewayed enclosure, as they run up to its course, but do not cross it. It is possible that the creation of the causewayed enclosure has destroyed further evidence of them.
The two linears may be part of a rectilinear enclosure or series of ditches that are roughly contemporary with the causewayed enclosure, or at least built with reference to each other.
S. Massey (NLA), 9 October 2001.

19 July 1996. NLA air photography.
This is a causewayed enclosure.
M. Brennand (NLA), 22 August 2001.

1997. Aerial Photograph Interpretation.
Aerial photograph transcriptions by Royal Commission on the Historical Monument of England as part of the 'Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic Project'.
Regarded as a "very probable" causewayed enclosure.
See publication (S12) for further details. This work is also noted in (S14).
P. Watkins (HES), 21 March 2017.

March 2004, Norfolk NMP.
With the exception of the causewayed enclosure, the cropmarks described above are now recorded as NHER 38485 (the long barrows) and NHER 38497 (the rectilinear enclosure or linear ditches). NMP mapping has led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 2210 3525 to TG 2201 3533.

The Neolithic causewayed enclosure described above is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs taken over several years (S2-10), centred at TG 2201 3533. Vertical photographs (S9-10), viewed in stereo, reveal that the enclosure lies on the north-west side of a slight knoll or spur, from where the ground drops from above 35m OD to the valleys of two minor tributaries of the River Bure. These streams, Hagon Beck 170m to the east of the enclosure and an unnamed stream (now a drain) 130m to its south-west, converge 350m to the south-east of the site, at a height below 30m OD. The chronological relationship between the enclosure and the two Neolithic long barrows and possible oval barrow 40m to its north (NHER 38485) and two further possible oval barrows or enclosures 60m to its west (NHER 38496) is unclear, but these monuments are likely to have been sited in relation to each other. A rectilinear enclosure to the south-east of the causewayed enclosure appears to respect it and is likely to date to a period after the Neolithic but when the causewayed enclosure still survived as an earthwork. A Neolithic axe has been reported from the area (NMR TG 23 NW 18).

The enclosure consists of a single circuit of causewayed ditch, comprising fourteen mapped segments of ditch up to 4.5m wide. These enclose an oval area measuring 105m long and 92m wide or almost 0.74 hectares. A kink in a ditch segment at 2206 3531 may indicate where two segments have been joined together. Variations in the strength of the cropmark at TG 2198 3530 and TG 2197 3534 may mark a change in the depth of the ditch or the type of backfill, again possibly indicating the removal or addition of a causeway. These factors may explain the different number of ditch segments recorded by different individuals, which varies from eleven to fifteen (NMR TG 23 NW 20; S11; S12, fig. 6.7). Two particularly broad ditch segments on the north-west side of the enclosure may mark an entrance (S12, 52, fig. 3.16). A thin curvilinear ditch, concentric to and approximately 4m inside the ditched circuit, is probably the remains of a palisade trench. Single and paired pits within the enclosure, one of which is nearly 7m long, appear to be contemporary with the enclosure. Two curvilinear ditches to the west of the main enclosure may have formed an annexe to it. Two pairs of short, broad ditches to the east of the enclosure may also be contemporary with its use but are located in a part of the field which was utilised in later periods.

It should be noted that a large number of linear features were visible as cropmarks on the consulted aerial photographs (S2-10). These lie both within and around the enclosure and the majority appear to be post-medieval or modern in date, comprising field boundaries, field drains and other features associated with buildings (Hagon Beck Cottages) and enclosures visible on historic maps (S13). It is possible, however, that other features associated with the causewayed enclosure lie unrecognised within this group of later features.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 11 March 2004.

Monument Types

  • ANNEXE ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
  • DITCH (Unknown date)
  • OVAL ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
  • PALISADE (Unknown date)
  • PIT (Unknown date)
  • ANNEXE ENCLOSURE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • CAUSEWAYED ENCLOSURE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • DITCH (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • OVAL ENCLOSURE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • PALISADE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • PIT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status

  • SHINE

Sources and further reading

---Aerial Photograph: TG2235 A-Q,AQ-AX,ABD-ABE,ABS,ABT.
---Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TG 2235ACB - ACJ.
---Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TG 2235ACS - ACZ.
---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TG 23 NW 20 [2].
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Slide: Various. Slide.
<S1>Article in Monograph: Edwards, D.. 1978. The Air Photographs Collection of the Norfolk Archaeological Unit: Third Report. East Anglian Archaeology. No 8 pp 87-105. p 92.
<S2>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1977. NHER TG 2235F (NLA 53/AKP24) 31-JUL-1977.
<S3>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1980. NHER TG 2235AK-L (NLA 95/APY19-20) 15-JUL-1980.
<S4>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1980. NHER TG 2235T (NLA 97/AQD22) 23-JUL-1980.
<S5>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1990. NHER TG 2235ABS-T (NLA 267/GBP11-2) 29-JUN-1990.
<S6>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1990. NHER TG 2235AS (NLA 272/GDG5) 12-JUL-1990.
<S7>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1996. NHER TG 2235ACE (NLA 373/JBP10) 19-JUL-1996.
<S8>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1996. NHER TG 2235ACV-W (NLA 365/JFM3-4) 28-JUN-1996.
<S9>Vertical Aerial Photograph: BKS. 1988. BKS 2368-9 03-SEP-1988 (NCC 4562-3).
<S10>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1996. RAF 39/6976 010-1 14-NOV-1996 (Norfolk SMR TG 2135D and TG 2235ACA).
<S11>Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S12>Publication: Barber, M., Oswald and Dyer, C. 2001. The Creation of Monuments: Neolithic Causewayed Enclosures in the British Isles. pp 48, 52, 59, 73, 82, 112, 153.
<S13>Map: Ordnance Survey. 1889 - 1891. Ordnance Survey first edition 6 inch map.. 1:10,560.
<S14>Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. (eds). 1998. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 1997. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLIII Pt I pp 193-210. p 196.

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