Record Details
| NHER Number: | 21772 |
|---|
| Type of record: | Monument |
|---|
| Name: | Possible Bronze Age round barrows, at Top Farm |
|---|
Summary
Two or possibly three ring ditches, visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs of this area, probably represent the levelled remains of Bronze Age round barrows. Further ring ditches to the west (NHER 29628) may represent a dispersed barrow cemetery, of which the ring ditches described here were perhaps an outlying part.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 4671 1924 |
|---|
| Map Sheet: | TG41NE |
|---|
| Parish: | SOMERTON, GREAT YARMOUTH, NORFOLK |
|---|
Full description
THE LINEAR CROPMARKS DESCRIBED BELOW ARE NOW RECORDED AS PART OF NHER 21270.
29 June 1976. At approximate grid reference.
'Cropmarks' noted on (S1).
E. Rose (NAU), 9 October 1985.
27 November 1985.
(S2) examined by D. Edwards. Reported cropmarks (above) found to be of one ring ditch at corrected national grid reference plus linear features at TG 4665 1915.
D. Edwards (NAU), 6 December 1985
Extending into Martham parish.
E. Rose (NAU), 2 September 1987.
March 2006. Norfolk NMP.
The linear cropmarks described above are now recorded as part of NHER 21270. NMP mapping has led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 466 192 to TG 4671 1924.
The ring ditch described above (which may in fact be two overlapping ring ditches), together with a second, double ring ditch located approximately 103m to the south, is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S2). It is probable, given their character and location, that these represent the levelled remains of Bronze Age round barrows. The site is surrounded by cropmarks of a multi-period field system (NHER 21270); the barrows presumably pre-date the field system but the exact relationship between the two sites is not known.
The cropmark of the northern ring ditch, visible at TG 4669 1930, is rather fragmentary. It is roughly circular in plan and measures approximately 17m in diameter. A centrally located pit, which may have held a burial, is visible within it, but this cropmark should be treated with caution as it could be geological rather than archaeological in origin. A curvilinear cropmark immediately to its east may mark the site of a second, overlapping ring ditch or possibly some kind outer enclosure or annexe. It measures 15m in diameter. The double ring ditch to the south (at TG 4672 1918) is rather faint and its archaeological origin is therefore uncertain. It is circular in plan and measures 29.5m externally and 23.5m internally.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 15 March 2006.
Monument Types
- ANNEXE ENCLOSURE? (Unknown date)
- PIT (Unknown date)
- RING DITCH (Unknown date)
- ANNEXE ENCLOSURE? (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- BURIAL? (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- PIT (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- RING DITCH (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- ROUND BARROW (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| <S1> | Unpublished Document: Cambridge University Committee for Aerial Photography. List of Aerial Photographs. |
| <S2> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: CUCAP. 1976. NHER TG 4619A-B (CUCAP BYJ39-40) 29-JUN-1976. |
Related records - none
Find out more...