Record Details
| NHER Number: | 50815 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Site of possible Neolithic or Bronze Age C-shaped hengiform enclosure |
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Summary
A possible C-shaped hengiform ditch or enclosure, perhaps a Neolithic or Bronze Age funerary or ceremonial monument, is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. The site lies at the southeastern end of an alignment of ring ditches, collectively forming a Bronze Age linear barrow cemetery (NHER 50816), of which this – as far as is visible – is the southeastern limit. The feature is of a rather enigmatic type noted elsewhere in Norfolk, for example at Roughton (NHER 38501), characterised by a wide, C-shaped ditch with bulbous terminals and generally found in proximity to Bronze Age round barrows. At the same time, the cropmarks described here are only convincing on one set of aerial photographs, and their origin and archaeological significance are uncertain.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 2759 1557 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG21NE |
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| Parish: | SALHOUSE, BROADLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
January 2008. Norfolk NMP.
A possible C-shaped hengiform ditch is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1)-(S2), centred at TG 2759 1557. The feature is of a rather enigmatic type noted at other sites in Norfolk, for example Roughton (NHER 38501), and elsewhere in the eastern region, characterised by a wide, C-shaped ditch with bulbous terminals and generally found in proximity to Bronze Age round barrows (see Albone et al. 2007 (S3) for a discussion). As with the Roughton example, the bulbous terminals of the site described here suggest it represents a ‘finished’ and ‘complete’ monument, rather than just half a ring ditch. The hengiform characteristics of the site, and its relationship with probable Bronze Age ring ditches to its northwest, suggest that it represents a funerary and/or ceremonial monument of late Neolithic and/or early Bronze Age date. Its alignment with the ring ditches suggests it forms the visible southeast end of a linear barrow cemetery (NHER 50816).
The enclosure is a fairly regular ‘C’ shape in plan, describing approximately half a circle. It measures approximately 30m long and 19m wide overall. Its ‘entrance’ faces northeast, where a presumably contemporary (if genuine) pit-like feature is visible, placed more or less centrally to the enclosure entrance. This might contain a funerary or votive deposit, although it could instead be geological in origin. Similarly, the enclosure is only convincing on the BKS verticals from 1988 (S1); while visible on NLA obliques from 1996 (S2), it shows less well (partly because of the obliqueness of the shot) and is less convincing as a man-made feature.
Also see (S5)
S. Tremlett (NMP), 22 January 2008.
August 2009. Norfolk NMP.
See (S4) for a possible parallel for these types of site (Site 2, the Sarn-Y-Bryn-Caled penannular ring ditch).
S. Tremlett (NMP, 18 August 2009.
Monument Types
- CURVILINEAR ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
- PIT? (Unknown date)
- BURIAL? (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC? to 1501 BC?)
- CURVILINEAR ENCLOSURE (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC? to 1501 BC?)
- HENGIFORM MONUMENT? (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC? to 1501 BC?)
- PIT? (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC? to 1501 BC?)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| <S1> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: BKS. 1988. BKS 0136-7 07-AUG-1988 (NCC 3281-2). |
| <S2> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. NHER TG 2715AC-AD (NLA 365/FFM12-13) 28-JUN-1996. |
| <S3> | Monograph: Albone, J., Massey. S & Tremlett, S.. 2007. The Archaeology of Norfolk's Coastal Zone. Results of the National Mapping Programme. English Heritage Project No: 2913. p 40. |
| <S4> | Article in Serial: Gibson, A. 1994. Excavations at the Sarn-y-bryn-caled cursus complex, Welshpool, Powys, and the timber circles of Great Britain and Ireland. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. Vol 60 pp 143-223. pp 159-161. |
| <S5> | Article in Serial: Horlock, S., Albone, J. and Tremlett, S. 2008. The Archaeology of Norfolk's Aggregate Landscape: Results of the National Mapping Programme. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLV Pt III pp 337-348. |
Related records
| 50816 | Part of: Site of probable Bronze Age linear barrow cemetery (Monument) |
| 50813 | Related to: Site of possible Bronze Age ring ditch (Monument) |
| 36447 | Related to: Site of probable Bronze Age round barrow (Monument) |