Norfolk Heritage Explorer

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THE CROPMARKS RECORDED BELOW WERE FORMERLY PART OF NHER 29344.

16 and 29 July 1986. NAU air photography.
Two ring ditches and a large circular enclosure are visible as cropmarks in aerial photographs.
D. Edwards (NAU).

13 July 1993. NLA air photography.
Cropmarks of a ring ditch are visible. The ditch of the circular enclosure observed above seems to be slightly sub-angular and hexagonal in shape (S1).
S. Massey (NLA), 8 February 2001.

6 July 1994. NLA air photography.
Ring ditches and enclosure are visiblein this photo (S2).
M. Brennand (NLA), 23 February 2001.

19 June 1995. NLA air photography.
A large circular enclosure and a ring ditch are clearly visible, situated along the field edge.
The ring ditch to the east is only showing very faintly (S3-S4).
S. Massey (NLA), 4 May 2001.

October 2007. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a group of four ring ditches are visible on aerial photographs to the south of Morton Plantation (S1-S7). The ring ditches are likely to represent the remains of Bronze Age round barrows, forming part of a small barrow cemetery (NHER 50662, see record for details), although it has been suggested that the largest circular feature may be the remains of an enclosure, rather than a barrow. The current preferred interpretation is that the feature is a Bronze Age funerary monument. The presence of a Bronze Age barrow cemetery in this general area was noted in the 1830s (see NHER 7728) and it is possible that some components of this group, along with NHER 50646 to the north and NHER 50649 to the north east, correspond with the earthworks recorded in the 1830s, although these four barrows (indicated by the ring ditches) may have already been plough-levelled by the nineteenth century. One earthwork barrow (NHER 7731, part of NHER 50662) still survives as an earthwork within woodland 50m to the north. The site is located on the lower slopes of the river valley overlooking the River Wensum to the north.

A multi-period finds scatter from the area [1] is recorded under NHER 29344 and these finds indicate that the site was frequented periodically from the Bronze Age onwards, with a particular peak of activity in the Saxon period, when the site was used as a cemetery. It is possible that the Saxon cemetery was positioned at this site due to the presence of the Bronze Age barrows. It is also feasible that the Saxon inhumations were dug into the existing Bronze Age barrow mounds.

The largest component of the site is a circular enclosure located on the northwestern edge of the site. The enclosure measures 46m in diameter. Although the enclosure is broadly circular in shape it does have several straight segments giving it a slightly polygonal plan. It has been suggested in the past that this large ring may be an enclosure, rather than a round barrow. However other examples of this size (and larger) are known from Norfolk, with 45m representing the upper limit of ‘normal’ dimensions. The polygonal and slightly flattened appearance to the site has also been recorded at other barrow sites. For example a barrow excavated at Harford Farm, Caister St Edmund, was of similar dimensions and had a polygon shape (NHER 9794 (S8).

To the east of this polygonal ring ditch is another relatively large ring ditch, measuring 30m in diameter. Several sections of this ring are obscured by either an unresponsive soil or geology, possibly a colluvial or alluvial deposit associated with the river valley floor to the immediate east or alternatively could be an area of later disturbance, such as extraction. To the immediate east of this ring ditch is another possible incomplete circular cropmark, located on the northeastern edge of the site. This cropmark was only clearly visible on one aerial photograph (S6). The feature is just detectable within the previously mentioned area of unresponsive soil or geology. The ring ditch would potentially measure 15m in diameter. Given the positioning and the fact that it is only visible on one run of aerial photographs, it is possible that the curvilinear ditch is also geological or natural in origin.

The southern, slightly oval ring ditch, measuring 30m by 24m, could potentially have a non-prehistoric origin and could potentially represent the remains of an infilled pit. This is suggested by the slightly irregular and blurred nature of the cropmarks when compared with other features visible within the field. However in the aerial photographs taken in 1994 (S2) the feature does appear to be showing in a similar manner to the other more convincing ring ditches. There is also no corresponding hollow when the site is viewed in stereo (S7), which might be expected if a former pit of this size has been present. This could indicate that the ring ditch is indeed archaeological in origin.

Another possible circular cropmark may have been visible on the aerial photographs from 1994 (S2) located in-between the three larger ring ditches. This feature consists of a circular area of positive cropmark with a pit-like feature in the middle. It was not clear whether this feature was geological in origin or a former pit or similar feature, and was not mapped for this reason.
S. Massey (NMP), 22 October 2007.

Monument Types

• CIRCULAR ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
• 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

• SHINE

Sources and further reading

Related records