Record Details
| NHER Number: | 18336 |
|---|
| Type of record: | Monument |
|---|
| Name: | Possible Bronze Age ring ditches |
|---|
Summary
The cropmarks of a pair of ring ditches, probably the remains of Bronze Age round barrows, are visible on aerial photographs to the north of Holloway Road, Surlingham.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 3101 0566 |
|---|
| Map Sheet: | TG30NW |
|---|
| Parish: | SURLINGHAM, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
|---|
Full description
11 July 1980. NAU aerial photography.
Cropmarks.
Three ring ditches.
S. Norton (NAU) 3 August 1982.
Note adjacent to decoy airfield.
Note unusually large and rectangular central spot in large ring ditch (photo A).
Searchlight stance?
E. Rose (NAU) 20 August 1982.
The central grid reference of this site has been altered from TG 309 056 to TG 3101 0567.
June 2007. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a pair of ring ditches, probably the remains of Bronze Age round barrows, are visible on aerial photographs to the north of Holloway Road, Surlingham (S1-S6). The site is centred on TG 3101 0567. Earlier entries for this site refer to three ring ditches being visible. Only two ring ditches were mapped as part of the NMP as the evidence for a third was not conclusive, in particular view of the busy geological cropmarks within the same field. Consultation of the aerial photographs taken in the immediate post–World War Two period revealed any evidence of the site ever having been the location of a searchlight battery, as suggested above.
The westernmost ring ditch is 31-2m in diameter and the easternmost example is slightly polygonal in shape and measures 37m by 39m. Within the centre of this ring ditch is a large, angular pit-like feature, 9m across. It is not immediately clear whether this feature is contemporary with the probable barrow and therefore representing a burial pit. Although the pit is excessively large for such a feature. An alternative explanation would be that it is the remains of an antiquarian excavation. Although the fact that a possible rectilinear enclosure (NHER 49592) appears to overlie the barrow site would seem to imply that any barrow mound formerly present within this ring ditch has been levelled for a significant time period. It is possible that the large pit relates to the phase of activity associated with this enclosure.
S. Massey (NMP), 28 June 2007. Amended by A. Beckham (HES), 29 January 2019.
Monument Types
- PIT (Unknown date)
- RING DITCH (Unknown date)
- PIT (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- 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
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| --- | Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1992. OS/92344 294-6 12-JUN-1992 (NMR). |
| <S1> | Aerial Photograph: TG3105 A-E,F,G-S. |
| <S2> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1964. RAF 58/6402 (F22) 0043-5 06-JUL-1964 (NMR). |
| <S3> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: Meridian Airmaps Limited. 1976. MAL 76045 079 22-JUN-1976 (NMR). |
| <S4> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1977. NHER TG 3105F (AAF 138/14) 04-AUG-1977. |
| <S5> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1980. NHER TG 3105A (NLA 92/APS8) 11-JUL-1980. |
| <S6> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1986. NHER TG 3105M (NLA 177/DBA26) 11-JUL-1986. |
Related records - none
Find out more...