Monument record IKN 113 - Boundaries, tracks and possible cultivation marks of probably post medieval date on Iken Heath

June 2015. Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty National Mapping Programme.
Former boundaries, tracks, and possible cultivation marks, all of probable post medieval (perhaps even modern) date, are visible as earthworks and soilmarks on aerial photographs (S1)-(S3) across a wide area of Iken Heath. The features are overlain by, and very confused with, Second World War anti-glider ditches (IKN 114) and envelope pattern, and much more detail is visible on the photographs than is recorded by the mapping. Most of the visible features correlate to boundaries depicted on the Ordnance Survey First Edition map, and have therefore not been mapped, but some additional boundaries are visible. Also visible are what appear to be blocks of cultivation ridges, similar to ridge and furrow, but rather narrow and irregular; similar features were recorded to the north by a previous NMP project (IKN 051), although these look more (but not entirely) like conventional ridge and furrow. The features described here perhaps relate to sporadic cultivation of the heathland, as described by Williamson (S4), but could be of relatively recent origin and/or low archaeological significance. Most of the earthworks have almost certainly now been levelled, as the area is now occupied by a mixture of arable, livestock and forestry.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 24th June 2015.