Record Details

NHER Number:21835
Type of record:Monument
Name:Cropmarks of probable Iron Age to Roman and medieval to post medieval features

Summary

A complex multi-period group of cropmarks, comprising a trackway, enclosures and field system of probable Iron Age to Roman date and further enclosures and field boundaries of medieval to post medieval date are visible on aerial photographs. Some cropmarks previously recorded under this number have been moved to NHER 38846.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 35016 30713
Map Sheet:TG33SE
Parish:WITTON, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

3 July 1976. At approximate grid reference.
Cropmarks noted on Cambridge University Committee for Aerial Photography list of aerial photographs.
E. Rose (NAU), 22 October 1985.

'Cropmarks' noted on Cambridge University Committee for Aerial Photography list of aerial photographs.
Photograph seen and grid reference corrected. Large rectangular enclosure with entrance on east, apparently respected by field boundary to northwest shown on 6 inch Ordnance Survey map but now removed. Also linear marks.
E. Rose (NAU), 2 September 1987.

October 2004. Norfolk NMP.
A multi-period cropmark complex, comprising a trackway, enclosures and field system of probable Iron Age to Roman date and further enclosures and field boundary ditches of medieval to post medieval date are visible on aerial photographs (S1-2). The central grid reference for these cropmarks has been adjusted from TG 351308 to TG 35003076. Some cropmarks previously recorded under this number have been moved to NHER 38846. The most prominent cropmark in this group is a slightly trapezoidal enclosure centred on TG 35033076. It measures a maximum of 90m long (north - south) by 64m wide (west - east). A single entrance with simple ditch terminals is located on the eastern side. A single ditch extends south for 68m from the southwest corner of the enclosure. Further to the east, other broadly north - south aligned ditches extend from TG 35103078 to TG 35103060 and between TG 35283077 and TG 35313055. The easternmost ditch forms one side of a group of rectilinear enclosures located immediately to the north of Nash’s Farm at TG 35403058. These enclosures measure up to 55m long (west - east) and between 11m and 30m wide (north - south). The arrangement of these enclosures appears to conform to the surviving post medieval field pattern and the position of the farm. It is likely that these enclosures, the large trapezoidal enclosure and the associated north - south ditches are of medieval to post medieval date. However, none of these enclosure or field boundary ditches are marked on the 1844 Ridlington tithe map (S3), suggesting that they are earlier than that date. To the north of the large trapezoidal enclosure at TG 35073083 is a 16m square enclosure associated with west - east and north - south ditches. These features are probably also of medieval to post medieval date. Underlying the post medieval enclosures and ditches is a southwest to northeast aligned ditch defined trackway with associated enclosures. The trackway extends intermittently for 450m between TG 34933062 and TG 35293088. Attached to the trackway are a number of enclosures. The most clearly defined of these has an irregular trapezoidal form and is located at TG 35203086. It measures 42m long (southwest - northeast) by a maximum of 43m wide (northwest - southeast). A simple entrance is present in its northwest side and a further possible entrance at its southeast corner. This enclosure protrudes into the line of the trackway as it approaches from the southwest, although to the northeast the trackway continues the line of the enclosure. This suggests that the enclosure may be of an earlier, but broadly contemporary, date than some or all of the trackway. Other enclosures or fields, which have narrower ditches and are not so clearly defined, are present along both sides of the trackway. These include possible fields to the northwest of the trackway that measure up to 140m (northwest - southeast) by 88m (southwest - northeast). Other rectilinear enclosures of varying sizes are present to the south of the trackway around TG 35203080. Ditches which lie parallel to these enclosures at TG 35123078 appear to cross the trackway, further suggesting that the whole field system may not have been laid out at the same, but that the trackway had been extended across an area of former fields. Further to the west, other ditches on a southwest -northeast and northwest - southeast alignment at TG 34813084 and TG 34843064 may form a continuation of this field system. It is likely that the trackway and its associated enclosures and fields are of Iron Age to Roman date. Undated ditches, which cut across both the Iron Age to Roman and post medieval field pattern at TG 34973063 and elsewhere, are also present. An undated pit is present at TG 35303063.
(S1-3)
J. Albone (NMP), 12 October 2004

Monument Types

  • DITCH (Unknown date)
  • PIT (Unknown date)
  • ENCLOSURE (Early Iron Age to Roman - 800 BC to 409 AD)
  • FIELD (Early Iron Age to Roman - 800 BC to 409 AD)
  • FIELD SYSTEM (Early Iron Age to Roman - 800 BC to 409 AD)
  • TRACKWAY (Early Iron Age to Roman - 800 BC to 409 AD)
  • TRAPEZOIDAL ENCLOSURE (Early Iron Age to Roman - 800 BC to 409 AD)
  • FIELD (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • FIELD BOUNDARY (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • FIELD SYSTEM (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • RECTILINEAR ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • SQUARE ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • TRAPEZOIDAL ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status

  • SHINE

Sources and further reading

---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
<S1>Oblique Aerial Photograph: CUCAP. 1976. NHER TG 3530A (CUCAP BYY48) 03-JUL-1976.
<S2>Oblique Aerial Photograph: CUCAP. 1976. CUCAP (BYJ58-60) 29-JUN-1976.
<S3>Map: James Wright. 1844. Ridlington Tithe Map 1844 (NRO DN/TA 822).

Related records - none

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