Record Details
| NHER Number: | 33729 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Earthworks of the Lakenheath Way, undated banks and pits |
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Summary
In 1998 earthworks were noted at this location. These took the form of a linear bank (now truncated by the bypass) with a rounded profile. It may be part of a road called the Lakenheath Way. A further possible 1km of this bank is visible on aerial photographs to the east, and has been recorded as NHER 54536. A subcircular mound was thought to be the remnants of a round barrow, but further investigation has drawn this interpretation into question. A site visit confirmed the linear earthwork was probably part of the Lakenheath Way but failed to record a mound of a shape consistent with that of a barrow. Further work in 1999 suggested the mound was a degraded building position and that the linear bank was obviously a boundary feature, although it may have formed the edge of a roadway along its straighter section. Some of the features were subsequently mapped as part of an interpretative survey using aerial sources. They are now recorded as part of a more extensive group of boundaries, trackways and enclosures (NHER 61542).
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TL 84645 82609 |
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| Map Sheet: | TL88SW |
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| Parish: | THETFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
15 March 1998.
Earthworks reported by [1].
The first, at location [2] is a sub-circular mound approximately 5 metres in diameter and under 1 metre in height. The north-west corner of the mound appears to be disturbed, perhaps by digging or tree root damage. It is possibly the remains of a round barrow, but is small and has no visible surviving ditch.
The second earthwork, at [3], is a linear earthwork recorded on the Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 (S1). It consists of a well-defined bank, less than a metre high, with a rounded profile. A ditch can be observed along the northern side of the bank. The earthwork may mark the route of the pre-Enclosure Lakenheath Way.
See notes and sketch from [1] in file.
A. Cattermole (NLA), 30 June 2008.
May 1998. Visit.
Linear bank (now truncated by bypass), approximately 1m high and 2m wide with a rounded profile. [1] suggests it is the pre-Enclosure Lakenheath Way and indeed it appears more as a road than a boundary, despite forming the northern side of Chestnut Plantation on the Ordnance Survey.
At the west end source notes a subcircular mound at location [2] which he suggests are the remains of a round barrow measured as being 20m north of the fire road. However this distance would place the mound within the golf course. There is a slight mound at the grid reference, but only 6m north of the bank, and it is not the same shape as [1]'s drawn survey (in file). A few metres to the east there is a mound of this shape but it is actually attached to the bank. Neither resembles a barrow.
E. Rose (NLA), 27 June 1998.
October 1998. Air photo assessment.
An RAF vertical photograph taken in February 1946 (S2) shows an earthwork of continuation of 'Lakenheath Way' as a ridge as far as Town Bank. This is also visible on a photograph taken by the RAF in October 1946 (S3). An RAF photograph taken in January 1956 (S4) shows the ridge as a soilmark.
B. Cushion (NLA), 23 October 1998.
July 1999. Visit to investigate report and plan by B. Cushion.
Earthwork one at location [3]. Position is accurate to 1:10,000 standard as is description of mound in relation to the 'metalled' surface of Fire Route 10.
This earthwork is not convincing as a barrow, because of its small size, sub-rectangular form and the steepness of its sides, as well as a depressed centre. It looks more like building position, but very degraded. Plan scale is 1:50 not 1:200.
Earthwork two. Linear feature identified with longer slope to north, indicating a terraced position. The OS 6in map (not 1:10,000) shows it as a slightly meandering bank - obviously a boundary feature, although it may have formed the edge of a roadway along its straighter section.
Another bank about 4m to south is less defined, with a depression between. This southern bank could in part be spoil from a former ditch alongside the Fire Road, but it looks a little too substantial for this. Is the double feature thus part of the former roadway? This is not totally convincing but if the general line fits the accepted route of Lakenheath Way there may be some relationship.
B. Cushion (NLA), 27 July 1999.
2002. Rapid Earthwork Identification Survey prior to de-stumping. Site extended (see hard copy NHER map for original extent).
Further banks and pits located.
See plan in file.
See also (S4).
D. Gurney (NLA) 4 April 2003.
December 2010. Norfolk NMP.
A further 1km of a rounded profile bank which may correspond to that described above as part of the pre-enclosure Lakenheath Way was visible on aerial photographs and has been recorded under NHER 54536.
E. Bales (NMP), 14 Dec 2010.
January 2019. 'Brecks from Above' and Breckland National Mapping Programme.
A variety of earthworks were recorded in this area, primarily from imagery from a recent (2015) lidar survey (S5). They are now recorded as part of a more extensive group of boundaries, trackways and enclosures (NHER 61542). No convincing mounds or building platforms were recorded within the limits of the site described above, nor were any pits identified that were thought to be of archaeological significance.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 4th January 2019.
Monument Types
- BANK (EARTHWORK) (Unknown date)
- BOUNDARY BANK (Unknown date)
- BUILDING PLATFORM? (Unknown date)
- MOUND (Unknown date)
- PIT (Unknown date)
- ROAD? (Unknown date)
- (Former Type) ROUND BARROW? (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| --- | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1956. RAF 540/1778 (F22) 0132 16-JAN-1956 (NHER TL 8682B). |
| --- | Unpublished Contractor Report: Craven, J. 2002. [SCCAS Report No. 2002/126]. Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service. 2002/126. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| <S1> | Map: NHER. 1:10000 Hard Copy HER Map. Permatrace. |
| <S2> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 3G/TUD/UK/59 5386 05-FEB-1946 (NHER TL 8682C). |
| <S3> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF CPE/UK/1801 4135 25-OCT-1946 (NHER TL 8582F). |
| <S4> | Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. (eds). 2003. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk, 2002. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLIV Pt II pp 368-384. p 382. |
| <S5> | LIDAR Airborne Survey: Various. LIDAR Airborne Survey. LIDAR Thetford Forest Research 0.5m DTM 17-JUL-2015 (BNG Project, FC England, Fugro Geospatial). |
Related records
| 61542 | Part of: Extensive remains of boundaries, enclosures, trackways and cultivation/plantation ridges across Thetford Warren (Monument) |
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