Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey of part of the Norfolk and Suffolk Breckland Region: Stage 2 and Overall Results
Author(s): Jack Powell, Sophie Tremlett, Sarah Horlock
The distinctive Breckland region of East Anglia has long been notable as an area of high archaeological potential in terms of the survival of earthwork sites, in an area of the country where such remains are rare. Stage 2 of the Breckland Aerial Investigation and Mapping (AIM) survey has made a significant contribution to our knowledge and understanding of the historic environment of the area, by undertaking a new baseline survey of 94 sq of the Breckland landscape. It has created 327 new records in the Norfolk and Suffolk Historic Environment Records (HERs), the vast majority of which relate to new discoveries, while a further 206 existing records have been enhanced. Crucially, many sites have been accurately mapped for the first time, allowing them to be both better understood and better managed. The survey has discovered, interpreted, mapped and recorded sites ranging in date from at least the Bronze Age to the 20th century. Highlights have included numerous prehistoric burial mounds (including examples not previously recorded), a wealth of medieval settlement remains, and extensive evidence of the use of Breckland for military training throughout the first half of the 20th century. Some of the sites mapped, such as the Anglo-Saxon settlement of West Stow, are of national significance. In many cases, the project’s findings build upon and enhance the results of earlier projects, including the Stage 1 AIM project (Horlock and Tremlett 2018), and work by other researchers. By collating the evidence visible on the huge variety of aerial sources consulted by the project, and by making this available via the HERs in the form of digital maps and records, the information contained in the aerial sources can now be recognised, understood, disseminated and utilised by a wide range of users. It will be an important resource for those managing and making decisions about the historic environment of Breckland. The questions raised by the results, and their further analysis, will hopefully form the basis of much future research in the region.
- Report Number:
- 211/2020
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 146
- Keywords:
- Medieval Aerial Photograph Interpretation Aerial Photography National Mapping Programme Round Barrow Military Training Site Mapping
