Monument record COV 084 - Possible Roman road, roadside enclosure, pit alignment, field boundaries and enclosures of uncertain date, visible as cropmarks.

Cropmarks of a possible Roman road and roadside enclosure, a possible pit alignment, field boundaries and enclosures of uncertain date are visible on aerial photographs of Covehithe parish of 1996, centred on circa TM5282 (S1). The cropmarks of the possible Roman Road can be seen running from circa TM52008205 to circa TM52218211. It is visible as two parallel ditches flanking a probable metalled surface about 5m in width. The metalled surface is possibly visible extending further west, but geological features obscure the detail in this area. It is possible that this feature continues to the east, but it cannot be seen on the photographs available. A rectilinear enclosure approximately 35 x 30m in size is visible at circa TM52298216, which would place it about 10m to the north of the possible roadway, if the route was extrapolated to the east. The enclosure appears to have rounded corners and internal features, which supports a possible interpretation as a Roman roadside settlement. However, it is not possible to date the site on the evidence of the photograph alone. A possible enclosure is also visible to the south, at circa TM52398195. Two sets of double ditches about 60m in length are visible as cropmarks running on an east-west alignment, approximately 25m apart. The features are probably incompletely mapped as they are slightly obscured by probable geological features. These geological features also partially obscure the areas that may contain connecting features if this is indeed an enclosure. However it is also possible that these features are simply a coincidental agglomeration of boundaries or trackways. Immediately to the west, a possible pit alignment is visible from circa TM52369192 to TM52348192. This feature may simply be the result of differential crop growth over the cultivation 'tramlines' but it is not possible to be certain from the photograph. If they are indeed pits, they are circa 1-1.5m in diameter. Across this area are a number of features, not mapped, that may be either geological features or extraction pits. To the west of the possible pit alignment are a number of these features that appear to be very regular in shape. These have been mapped as they may represent possible sunken floored structures. Probable field boundaries can be seen running in an east-west direction, centred on circa TM52018198, TM52158191 and circa TM52348208. (S1)

NB. It is worth noting that this area has been field walked and extensively metal detected and no Roman finds have been recovered to date.