Monument record FMP 040 - A series of banks, ditches and enclosures relating to medieval settlement remains

December 2019. Breckland National Mapping Programme.
A series of banks, ditches and enclosures most likely relating to medieval to post medieval settlement remains are seen as earthworks and subsequently as cropmarks on aerial photographs (S1-S5). The banks and ditches most likely relate to a series of boundaries, field boundaries, possible strip field boundaries, enclosures, possible ponds, trackways and drainage. It is also possible some of the ditch features may relate to natural features as well as some of the bank features possibly relating to mounded earth from the clearance of the drainage ditches. A large possible enclosure can be seen at TL 8171 7008 which consists of two exterior ditches, a raised interior, two internal banks along the east and north sides, an internal ditch and a possible causewayed entrance. A further smaller enclosure can be seen in the south of the area (located at TL 8161 6981) consisting of a roughly rectangular exterior ditch with a small mound (possibly relating to a building platform) and curved ditch within the interior of the enclosure. Finally, a small possible enclosure with a number of ditches within the interior of the feature can be seen at TL 8119 6968. It is also possible that this feature may relate to post mediaeval tree planting or a modern feature. Further to the possible enclosures a large possible causewayed trackway can be seen at TL 8180 6993 and also three possible strip field boundaries located at TL 8117 6966. The large boundary bank at TL 8140 6955 may be post medieval in date and most likely relates to a former field boundary. Some of the possible medieval ditch features are mapped on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map (S6) and may have been re used (or continued in use) as post medieval drainage ditches. The features can be seen well as earthworks on the 1940s (S1-S2) aerial photographs with the majority of the features levelled by the 1960s (S3). Some of the ditch features and the large possible enclosure can be seen well as cropmarks on recent (2015) aerial photographs (S4) with some of the banks in the north of the site visible as earthworks on visualised lidar data (S5). The probable medieval settlement remains are in close proximity to Flempton historic settlement core (FMP 023).
J. Powell (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 5th December 2019.