Record Details

NHER Number:61537
Type of record:Monument
Name:Boundary banks, including warren banks, and trackways of probable medieval to post-medieval date

Summary

A large dispersed area of boundary banks, including warren banks, ditches, trackways and enclosures, predominantly likely to be of medieval to post-medieval date, is visible as earthworks on 0.5m resolution lidar data imagery and, to a lesser extent, on aerial photographs. It spreads across the extensive areas of forestry plantation at Weeting-with-Broomhill, extending into Lynford to the east. The area encompasses several important archaeological sites, most notably the site of Broomhill Priory (NHER 5627 and NHER 61992) and Broomhill/Weeting medieval to post-medieval rabbit warren (NHER 54063). It also encompasses several blocks of ridges, reminiscent of ridge and furrow, which perhaps relate to the temporary arable cultivation of parts of the area, the production of fodder crops for rabbits, and/or early conifer plantations. It also incorporates several features which were previously recorded as separate sites, including NHER 31217, NHER 55578, NHER 61085, and NHER 61095.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TL 8033 8874
Map Sheet:TL88NW
Parish:LYNFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK
WEETING WITH BROOMHILL, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

July 2017. 'Brecks from Above' and Breckland National Mapping Programme.
A large dispersed area of boundary banks, including warren banks, ditches, trackways and enclosures, predominantly likely to be of medieval to post-medieval date, is visible as earthworks on 0.5m resolution lidar data imagery (S1) and, to a lesser extent, on aerial photographs (S2-S4). It spreads across the extensive areas of forestry plantation at Weeting-with-Broomhill, extending into Lynford to the east.
The area of the site encompasses several important archaeological sites, most notably the site of Broomhill Priory (NHER 5627 and NHER 61992) and the Broomhill/Weeting medieval rabbit warren (NHER 54063). This record deals with the banks and boundaries within the western part of the site; see the subsequent entry below for the central and eastern areas. Also included in this site are banks previously recorded under NHER 61095 and NHER 55578.
The site is bounded to the west by a series of broadly parallel banks and ditches. The most substantial formed the Weeting/Broomhill parish boundary and has previously been recorded under NHER 55578. This may have also formed a monastic boundary associated with the priory or more likely related to the edge of the warren. This would extend the recorded area of warren considerably, but given that two of the suggested sites for the associated warren lodge (NHER 31601 and NHER 61992) also lie outside of this area, it may be much more extensive than previously recorded. Running alongside this are a series of parallel boundaries (S1-S2), comparable to five parallel banks forming the northeastern edge of the warren, see below. An intermittent single or double bank continues to the north along the line of parish boundary towards the northern edge of the recorded warren.
In the area of Bromehill Cottage and the Harling Drove are a series of braided tracks, mostly cutting across this boundary bank system. Additional tracks were not mapped as they corresponded with those on the Ordnance Survey First Edition map (S5).
S. Horlock (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 7 July 2017.

February 2018. 'Brecks from Above' and Breckland National Mapping Programme.
The boundaries and trackways recorded across the central and eastern parts of the site described above, are generally much more cohesive than those in the west. They are all visible as extant earthworks on imagery from the 2015 lidar survey (S1), but some features are also visible on aerial photographs (S6, for example). Given the recent date of the lidar survey, it is likely that most features still survive as earthworks. The site incorporates several features (or parts of features) that have previously been recorded individually, including NHER 31217, NHER 61085 and NHER 61100. As described above, several of the boundaries are likely to relate to Broomhill/Weeting rabbit warren (NHER 54063), but distinguishing those specifically relating to the warren is impossible without more detailed research. In particular, better understanding of the phasing and dating of individual elements is needed, as not all of the features were necessarily constructed or in use at the same time. A few of the features correspond at least partially with features depicted on historical maps, such as the Ordnance Survey First Edition 6-inch map (S7).
Perhaps the most distinctive part of the site is its eastern boundary, where multiple banks (four or even five in places) mark the parish boundary between Weeting-with-Broomhill and Lynford to the east. This is also thought to have been the boundary between Weeting/Broomhill rabbit warren (NHER 54063) and Santon rabbit warren (NHER 54065), which may, to some extent, explain the need for multiple boundaries, although this could also reflect the reinstatement of the boundary over a long period of time. Additional, near parallel boundaries are visible offset to the east, within Lynford parish and within or along the recorded western boundary of Santon warren. Beyond this, a complex area of much more irregular boundaries and trackways has been recorded (NHER 62073). Some of the features in this area could relate to the probable Roman settlement previously recorded in this area (NHER 5659).
Several blocks of ridges, reminiscent of ridge and furrow, are evident as earthworks on the lidar imagery (S1). Similar features have been identified across the project area. They may reflect the temporary intake of areas of warren or heathland for arable agriculture, the cultivation of fodder crops for rabbits, and/or the creation of ridges for early forestry plantations. In some places, the ridges seem to overlie boundaries or trackways (for example, at TL 8051 8899). In other places, the ridges appear to have been bounded by some of the boundary banks.
The site overlaps with several other recorded sites, including the possible remains of Neolithic flint mines (NHER 61536), and several possible barrows (NHER 62109, NHER 62049, NHER 62046, NHER 62047, NHER 62048). Most notably, the central southern portion of the site is overlain by an area of post-medieval gun flint mines (NHER 31296); the lidar imagery (S1) clearly shows the flint mines on top of the low earthwork boundary bank which crosses the same area northeast-southwest.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 2 February 2018.

Monument Types

  • BOUNDARY BANK (Unknown date)
  • BOUNDARY DITCH (Unknown date)
  • CULTIVATION MARKS? (Unknown date)
  • RIDGE AND FURROW? (Unknown date)
  • TRACKWAY (Unknown date)
  • BANK (EARTHWORK) (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • BOUNDARY BANK (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • BOUNDARY DITCH (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • CULTIVATION MARKS? (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD? to 1900 AD)
  • DITCH (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • PARISH BOUNDARY (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • PARISH BOUNDARY (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD? to 1900 AD)
  • RABBIT WARREN (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • RABBIT WARREN (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • RIDGE AND FURROW? (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD? to 1900 AD)
  • TRACKWAY (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • PLANTATION? (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

<S1>LIDAR Airborne Survey: Various. LIDAR Airborne Survey. LIDAR Santon Forest Research 0.5m DTM 17-JUL-2015 (BNG Project, FC England, Fugro Geospatial).
<S2>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Various. Vertical Aerial Photograph. RAF/3G/TUD/UK/59 V 5156-5157 05-FEB-1946 (HEA Original Print).
<S3>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Various. Vertical Aerial Photograph. MAL/83025 V 142-3 23-OCT-1983 (HEA Original Print).
<S4>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Various. Vertical Aerial Photograph. Norfolk County Council BKS 8209-8209 06-AUG-1988 (NCC 2999-3000) (Print).
<S5>Map: Ordnance Survey. 1902-7. Ordnance Survey second edition 25 inch (1902-7) map. 25 inches to 1 mile.
<S6>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Various. Vertical Aerial Photograph. Next Perspectives APGB Imagery TL8189 06-JUN-2014 (Digital Colour).
<S7>Map: Ordnance Survey. 1885-1891. Ordnance Survey Map. Six inches to the mile. First Edition. 1:10,560.

Related records

55578Parent of: Earthwork bank, parish boundary between Weeting and Broomhill (Monument)
31217Parent of: Earthworks of undated and post medieval banks (Monument)
61095Parent of: Plantation boundary bank at Santon Street (Monument)
61085Parent of: Possible warren bank at Santon Street (Monument)
54063Part of: Broomhill/Weeting medieval to post medieval rabbit warren (Monument)
54065Part of: Medieval to post-medieval rabbit warren, Santon (Monument)
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