Record Details
| NHER Number: | 21124 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Site of possible prehistoric or Roman round house or enclosure |
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Summary
A small oval enclosure or ring ditch, probably of prehistoric or possibly Roman date, is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. It lies within an extensive area of complex, multi-phase cropmarks (NHER 50802), comprising trackways, enclosures and probable field boundaries. Its positioning within these, together with its small size, suggests that it could represent a round house or domestic enclosure, although an agricultural or even industrial function cannot be ruled out. Other ring ditches in the area, such as NHER 50804 20m to the southeast, are thought to represent Neolithic or Bronze Age funerary monuments, but the small size of the enclosure described here makes this an unlikely interpretation. Prehistoric material has been found in the area, reinforcing its suggested prehistoric date, although a single Roman sherd has also been recovered (NHER 41871).
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 2645 1473 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG21SE |
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| Parish: | BEESTON ST ANDREW, BROADLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
THE RECTILINEAR ENCLOSURE DESCRIBED BELOW IS NOW RECORDED AS A RING DITCH (NHER 50804) AND AS PART OF THE MULTI-PHASE SITE NHER 50802.
9 June 1980. NAU aerial photographs. Positive cropmarks. About 50ft above mean sea level.
Ring ditch and adjacent rectilinear enclosure visible on (S1).
D. Edwards (NAU), 22 January 1985.
January 2008. Norfolk NMP.
The rectilinear enclosure described above is now recorded as a ring ditch (NHER 50804) and as part of the multi-phase site NHER 50802.
The ring ditch described above, which is really more of an oval enclosure, is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 2645 1473. It lies within an extensive area of complex, multi-phase cropmarks (NHER 50802), comprising trackways, enclosures and probable field boundaries. Its positioning within these, together with its small size, suggests that it could represent a round house or domestic enclosure, although an agricultural or even industrial function cannot be ruled out. Other ring ditches in the area, such as NHER 50804 20m to the southeast, are thought to represent Neolithic or Bronze Age funerary monuments, but the small size of the enclosure described here makes this an unlikely interpretation. Prehistoric material has been found in the area, reinforcing its suggested prehistoric date, although a single Roman sherd has also been recovered (NHER 41871).
The enclosure is an irregular oval in plan and measures 7m long and up to 5.75m wide. A single break is visible in the narrow ditch, but it is not known whether this represents a genuine entrance or simply the cropmark being masked.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 15 January 2008.
Monument Types
- OVAL ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
- RING DITCH (Unknown date)
- OVAL ENCLOSURE (Bronze Age - 2350 BC? to 701 BC?)
- OVAL ENCLOSURE (Early Bronze Age to Roman - 2350 BC? to 409 AD?)
- RING DITCH (Bronze Age - 2350 BC? to 701 BC?)
- RING DITCH (Early Bronze Age to Roman - 2350 BC? to 409 AD?)
- ROUND HOUSE (DOMESTIC)? (Bronze Age - 2350 BC? to 701 BC?)
- ROUND HOUSE (DOMESTIC)? (Early Bronze Age to Roman - 2350 BC? to 409 AD?)
- OVAL ENCLOSURE (Iron Age - 800 BC? to 42 AD?)
- RING DITCH (Iron Age - 800 BC? to 42 AD?)
- ROUND HOUSE (DOMESTIC)? (Iron Age - 800 BC? to 42 AD?)
- OVAL ENCLOSURE (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
- RING DITCH (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
- ROUND HOUSE (DOMESTIC)? (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| <S1> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1980. NHER TG 2614M-P (NLA 82/ANT1-3) 09-JUN-1980. |
Related records
| 50802 | Related to: Site of multi-phase field boundaries, trackways and enclosures (Monument) |
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