Record Details
| NHER Number: | 33258 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Ringland Hills |
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Summary
A deep conical pit exists here at the foot of a slope. Reportedly filled with flint nodules it has previously been interpreted as the location for a prehistoric flint mine as there is another mine (NHER 7798). However consultation of aerial photographs from the 1940s would suggest that it is in fact a shell crater associated with a World War Two tank training area (NHER 53659) located on Ringland Hills.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 1382 1257 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG11SW |
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| Parish: | RINGLAND, BROADLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
Pit, conical, about 3m deep, 6m across. Very steep sided, set in foot of slope.
Apparently full of flint nodules though base covered in dead leaves. Hidden by vegetation before 1997; a few meters south of unofficial path following edge of public access land.
Bearing in mind the flint mine/pit at NHER 7798 (context 1), and the scatter of flint-mine type finds at NHER 20014 adjacent, this seems a good contender for a flint pit.
E. Rose (NLA) 21 November 1997.
February 2001.
Area being used as unofficial mountain bike circuit, including pit which is being damaged.
E. Rose (NLA) 24 February 2001.
October 2004. Visit.
Matters have worsened, the assault course has been made more permanent with earth banks, wooden ramps etc. and the pit partly infilled as a kind of wall-of-death.
E. Rose (NLA) 27 October 2004.
April 2008. Field visit.
The area around the grid reference recorded in 1997 (TG 1378 1259) was examined in detail and no pit matching the description above was located. The feature described was discovered further to the east at TG 13835 12568.
The banks and ramps recorded in 2004 were not seen, although mountain bike tracks and a mound of soil in the base of the pit were evident. The area around the pit had recently been bulldozed (see S1).
The pit could be a prehistoric flint mine. However, it could equally be a more recent quarry pit or a bomb crater. A low irregular bank up to 0.5m high surrounds the outer edge of the pit (possibly upcast from quarrying or material displaced by an explosion).
D. Robertson (NLA), 12 May 2008.
June 2010. Norfolk NMP.
The location and description of this pit is consistent with it being one of the shell craters associated with a World War Two tank training area (NHER 53659) located on Ringland Hills. A pit, almost certainly a shell crater, is visible on aerial photographs at this point (S2-S4).
S. Horlock (NMP), 16 June 2010.
Monument Types
- FLINT MINE? (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
- BOMB CRATER (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| <S1> | Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2008. Off-road bikers clash with council over beauty spot. 2 April. |
| <S2> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1945. RAF 106G/LA/191 1075-6 22-MAR-1945 (NMR). |
| <S3> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1945. RAF 106G/UK/479 (FP) 1044-5 06-JUL-1945 (NMR). |
| <S4> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1428 4025-6 16-APR-1946 (NMR). |
Related records - none
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