Monument record HLY 158 - Site of enclosures, trackways, field system and probable settlement

April 2016. Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty National Mapping Programme.
A dense area of undated cropmarks, comprising several enclosures, trackways, parts of one or more field systems, and ring ditches, almost certainly indicating settlement, is visible on aerial photographs (S1)-(S3). It is clear that several phases of activity are represented, probably stretching from the Bronze Age or Iron Age, to the post medieval period, but the cropmarks are so interlinked as to make splitting them into separate phases difficult; almost certainly some features remained in use, or were taken back into use, over a considerable period of time.
As far as can be seen, the enclosures are all broadly rectilinear or sub-rectangular in shape, some comprising more than one cell. The ring ditches are all only partially visible. Numerous pit-like cropmarks are visible, the most prominent of which have been mapped. A few elements of the site have been recorded separately (HLY 159, HLY 157, HLY 160), as they appear to represent discrete features, probably of earlier or later date than the rest of the cropmarks. This includes the largest ring ditch (HLY 157), which may represent a barrow, and two pits of probably recent date (HLY 159).
The site forms part of a more extensive pattern of fields, trackways and enclosures, visible as cropmarks across the surrounding area (HLY 165, HLY 161, ADT 099, for example). Undoubtedly some of the activity visible at the site is contemporary with this wider landscape, much of which is thought to be of probably prehistoric to Romano-British date.
It should be noted that the majority of features were only visible on a single oblique photograph (S2). This only covered part of the site, and lacked adequate control for rectification. As a consequence, the accuracy of the mapping has been reduced, and there are potential discrepancies between features visible on different photographs.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 8th April 2016.