Record Details
| NHER Number: | 33816 |
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| Type of record: | Cropmark and Earthwork |
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| Name: | Cropmarks of possible medieval ridge and furrow or strip field boundaries |
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Summary
An area of possible ridge and furrow or strip field boundaries, of a probable medieval date, are visible as soilmarks or possibly as very low earthworks on aerial photographs. The features are not visible on the relatively recent (2017) visualised lidar data and are presumed to have been levelled. The features may have formed part of an open field system.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TF 8678 1043 |
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| Map Sheet: | TF81SE |
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| Parish: | NECTON, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
January 1946. RAF air photograph.
Shows gently curving north to south alignment of narrow strip fields, almost certainly part of an open field system. The soilmarks indicate ditches separating the strips, but these are too variable in width to convincingly be ridge and
furrow.
B. Cushion (NLA), 7 September 1998.
June 2023. Wendling Beck and Fransham Aerial Investigation and Mapping (AIM) Project.
An area of possible ridge and furrow or strip field boundaries, of a probable medieval date, are visible as soilmarks or possibly as very low earthworks on aerial photographs (S2). The features are not visible on the relatively recent (2017) visualised lidar data (S3) and are presumed to have been levelled. The features consist of a series of north to south aligned curved banks and ditches. It is possible that the features may relate to an area of medieval ridge and furrow. As discussed above (see above) the distance between the features appears to be quite inconsistent which may suggest that the features could relate to medieval strip field boundaries rather than ridge and furrow. Although the features are likely to be medieval in date, a post medieval date for the features cannot be ruled out. The soilmarks of features most likely associated with modern agriculture (not mapped) are also visible across the area on S2. The monument polygon has been amended to the extent of the features as seen on S2.
J. Powell (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 30 June 2023.
Monument Types
- BOUNDARY BANK (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)
- BOUNDARY DITCH (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)
- FIELD BOUNDARY (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)
- FIELD SYSTEM (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- FIELD? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- RIDGE AND FURROW? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
- STRIP FIELD? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| <S1> | Aerial Photograph: TF 81/TF 8710/A. |
| <S2> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: Various. Various. Vertical Aerial Photography from the Historic England Archive. RAF/3G/TUD/UK/52 V 5082-5083 31-JAN-1946. |
| <S3> | LIDAR Airborne Survey: Environment Agency. Environment Agency LIDAR Data. National LIDAR Programme TF81SE DTM 1m 17 to 24-NOV-2017. |
Related records - none
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