Record Details

NHER Number:36487
Type of record:Monument
Name:Cropmark of possible medieval or post medieval rectangular ditched enclosure

Summary

A roughly rectangular, almost square, ditched enclosure of unknown date and function is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. It seems most likely to be medieval or post-medieval in date as its alignment is shared by the post-medieval field system that surrounds it (NHER 38904). It could represent a stock enclosure or similar agricultural feature, perhaps associated with the low-lying and (formerly) wet land to its south and east. This land, which borders tributaries of Mundesley Beck, may have supported meadowland prior to being drained. Other archaeological features in the surrounding area are believed to date to earlier periods, however, and include a possibly Iron Age to Romano-British field system (NHER 38895). The possibility that the enclosure forms part of a pre-medieval system of land division, therefore, cannot be ruled out.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TG 2654 3817
Map Sheet:TG23NE
Parish:SOUTHREPPS, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

THE CROPMARKS DESCRIBED BELOW, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE SQUARE ENCLOSURE WITH ROUNDED CORNERS, ARE NOW RECORDED AS NHER 38903 (THE OVOID RING DITCH) AND NHER 38895 AND 38904 (THE ANOMALIES TO THE WEST).

19 July 1996. NLA air photography.
Cropmarks to W of Calpham Dams Farm.
To the S is an almost square enclosure with rounded corners and a probable entrance to the NE.
To the N is an ovoid (flattened) ring ditch.
To the W are numerous anomalies that may be the fragmentary remains of archaeological features, or may be natural.
M. Brennand (NLA), 22 August 2001.

October 2004. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks described above, with the exception of the square enclosure with rounded corners, are now recorded as NHER 38903 (the ovoid ring ditch) and NHER 38895 and 38904 (the anomalies to the west). This has led to the alteration of the central grid reference of the site from TG 2650 3825 to TG 2654 3818.

The rectangular or square enclosure described above is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 2654 3818. It follows approximately the same alignment as field boundaries depicted on historic maps (e.g. S2), and of additional boundaries visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (NHER 38895). While this pattern of enclosure was current in the later post-medieval period, it may have originated in the Middle Ages. Although the northern side of the enclosure is crossed by one of these boundaries, the fact that the site more-or-less fits into the corner of a field suggests that it too is likely to date to the medieval or post-medieval period.

The enclosure is roughly rectangular in plan and measures up to 49m long and 46m wide. An entrance at its north-east corner appears to be genuine.
(S1-2)
S. Tremlett (NMP), 21 October 2004.

Monument Types

  • DITCHED ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
  • RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
  • SQUARE ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
  • STOCK ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
  • DITCHED ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • RECTANGULAR ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • SQUARE ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
  • STOCK ENCLOSURE (Medieval to 19th Century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

<S1>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. NHER TG 2638A-E (NLA 373/JBN14, JBP1-4) 19-JUL-1996.
<S2>Map: Ordnance Survey. 1902 to 1907. Ordnance Survey second edition 25 inch (1902-7) Sheet XX. 1.

Related records - none

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