Scheduled Ancient Monument: Mildenhall Warren Boundary Banks (DSF18583)

The earthworks and buried remains of the eastern and northern boundary banks of Mildenhall Warren, dating from the C14 or earlier. The site comprises the earthwork and buried remains of the perimeter and trapping banks of Mildenhall Warren, first recorded in 1323. It lies within Thetford Forest on the northern boundary of Mildenhall Woods and the northern and eastern boundary of Twelve Acre Woods and follows the boundary between the parishes of Mildenhall and Eriswell. Many of the banks survive as earthworks visible above ground, occasionally up to a metre high. In some areas the banks are not discernible on the ground but are shown to survive through Lidar imaging. DESCRIPTION Mildenhall Warren was laid out with boundary banks in an irregular, but roughly triangular shape, a little to the north of the River Lark, and immediately south of Eriswell Warren. The perimeter banks originally extended for a length of approximately 9.15 km and enclosed an area approximately 447 hectares, but the surviving banks described here are only those to the north-east and east, in two continuous sections. The rest of the banks, and the interior of the warren, were not considered as part of this assessment (2023). The warren lodge is a separate scheduled monument (NHLE 1006023). The following description will describe the banks starting from the south-east: The first continuous section runs from TL7476675725 by the edge of a track. The bank is approximately 50cm high rising to 75cm high further north-east, and is approximately 10m wide. It extends north-eastwards for approximately 440m, following the parish boundary line between Mildenhall and Icklingham. The earthworks become more easily discernable further north-east. At TL7511475993 the bank turns a corner north-westward and follows the line of the parish boundary between Mildenhall and Eriswell for approximately 400m. In some places the bank is as much as 12m wide, and there are possible traces of a double bank. The rest of the banks all follow exactly Mildenhall and Eriswell parish boundary. At TL7483776308 the bank turns a corner towards the south-west, and continues for approximately 198m, where it ends at TL7465276213. Another bank begins at TL7465576298 to the north-west, parallel at first to the eastern bank at a distance of approximately 40 metres, and may represent a trapping area. The western bank extends south-westwards for a distance of 178m, still following the Eriswell parish boundary line, and varies between 9 and 12m wide. The bank turns north-westwards for approximately 280m. From this point it is slightly flattened and the track runs on top of it for the remainder of its extent. At TL7438076482 the track extends south-westwards for approximately 1550m, where it splits into two separate banks approximately 170m in length, these were likely to have been trapping banks. EXTENT OF SCHEDULING The area of protection is shown on the accompanying map extract and is designed to protect the known extent of the earthworks and buried remains of the northern and eastern boundary banks of Mildenhall Warren, including linked trapping banks. It includes a 5 metre boundary around the monument, which is considered to be essential for its support and preservation.