Record Details
| NHER Number: | 36478 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Cropmark of double ring ditch |
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Summary
A double ring ditch, likely to be the remains of a large Bronze Age round barrow, or a double ditched enclosure of Neolithic or Bronze Age date, is visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs. It is situated close to three smaller ring ditches and together these sites appear to form a nucleated barrow cemetery (NHER 38652). It occupies a moderate slope overlooking the confluence of Hagon Beck and an unnamed tributary (now a series of drains) 1.2km to the south. The surrounding area is notable for its evidence of prehistoric ceremonial and funerary activity, and the ring ditch or enclosure almost certainly forms part of this phase of activity.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 2166 3620 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG23NW |
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| Parish: | ROUGHTON, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
28 June 1996. NLA air photography.
Cropmark of a dual concentric ring ditch site, only 2 quadrants of which are visible due to field boundaries.
This may be a large Bronze Age burial monument.
Its large size may indicate that this is a double ditched circular enclosure, although its position between 2 ring ditches may indicate that it is an elaborate funerary monument.
S. Massey (NLA), 9 October 2001.
March 2004, Norfolk NMP
The ring ditch or enclosure described above is partially visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 2167 3622. Given its location in an area of known prehistoric ceremonial and funerary activity, it is most likely to represent the remains of a large Bronze Age round barrow. It is surrounded by three smaller ring ditches which probably date to slightly later in the Bronze Age. Collectively these four sites have been recorded as barrow cemetery NHER 38652. The size of the ring ditch, however, and its slightly flattened south-west side, may indicate that it is a curvilinear or even D-shaped enclosure. If this is the case, an earlier Bronze Age or even Neolithic date seems likely.
The outer ditch measures 60m in diameter; the inner measures approximately 43m in diameter and is rather more sub-circular in plan. Both ditches are relatively narrow, the cropmarks measuring up to 1.7m wide. A number of possible pits or post-holes have been identified on the south-west side of the ring ditch, but given the nature of the underlying geology the archaeological nature of these features is not certain. On the north-east side, the inner ditch appears to be joined by another ditch at the western end of its visible extent. The absence of cropmarks in the adjoining field on any of the consulted aerial photographs makes this element of the site difficult to interpret.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 16 March 2004
Monument Types
- CIRCULAR ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
- CURVILINEAR ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
- D SHAPED ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
- DOUBLE DITCHED ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
- PIT (Unknown date)
- POST HOLE (Unknown date)
- RING DITCH (Unknown date)
- CIRCULAR ENCLOSURE (Late Prehistoric - 4000 BC to 42 AD)
- CURVILINEAR ENCLOSURE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
- D SHAPED ENCLOSURE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
- DOUBLE DITCHED ENCLOSURE (Late Prehistoric - 4000 BC to 42 AD)
- PIT (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 BC to 701 BC)
- POST HOLE (Early Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 4000 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 - none
Sources and further reading
| --- | Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TG 2136D - P. |
| <S1> | Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A.. 1996. NHER TG 2136F-G (NLA 365/JFM11-2) 28-JUN-1996. |
Related records
| 38652 | Part of: Cropmarks of Bronze Age barrow cemetery (Monument) |
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