The Norfolk Coast and Broads NMP project sought to map, interpret and record all archaeological features visible on aerial photographs, whether earthworks, cropmarks or structures.
The project was undertaken by Norfolk Landscape Archaeology (NLA), now the Historic Environment Service, part of Norfolk County Council, and was funded by English Heritage under the Archaeology Commissions Programme (now the Historic Environment Enabling Programme) as project number 2913.
Exploring coast and hinterland from the air
The coastline is one of the principal features of the county of Norfolk, making up around 40% of its boundary. The position of Norfolk means that historically it has looked outward across the North Sea to northern Europe.
The coast was prioritised as part of an English Heritage national initiative to assess the archaeological potential of the coastlines of England. The Norfolk coastal NMP results fed into the Norfolk Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey, which included archival research and a ground-based survey of the inter-tidal and coastal zones.
Highlights from the NMP project range from prehistoric sites such as Bronze Age barrows to Second World War military remains such as prisoner-of-war camps.
Many of the sites were associated with coastal activities. The remains of more than 200 saltern mounds indicate the former presence of a major salt processing complex near King's Lynn. Most of this salt working dates to the Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods, although areas of Romano-British production are also evident. From the more recent past extensive Second World War coastal defences have been mapped from wartime and post-war photographs.
Other sites may have benefited from a coastal location but cannot be described as specifically coastal in nature. Numerous Bronze Age barrows were identified on Salthouse Heath, while extensive Iron Age to Romano-British rural settlements and field systems were mapped at Snettisham and Heacham. The NMP coastal zone also included some of the best known and best preserved archaeological sites in Norfolk, such as Burgh Castle and Warham Camp.
Transforming our knowledge of the Norfolk Broads
The Broads Zone was seen as a priority area for survey because this effectively man-made landscape is under threat from a number of pressures, not least climate change and rising sea levels; decisions need to be made regarding the management of any potential changes.
The results of the NMP project have significantly transformed our knowledge of the historic environment of the Broads, the lowland areas of which have a designated status equivalent to a National Park. The project has identified, and enhanced our knowledge of, a wide variety of sites ranging in date from the Neolithic to World War Two.
Prehistoric Highlights
Highlights include the mapping of numerous prehistoric ceremonial and funerary sites, including Neolithic mortuary enclosures, Bronze Age barrow cemeteries, and possible Iron Age square barrows. For the Iron Age and Roman period extensive swathes of field systems, trackways and enclosures were mapped across vast areas of the uplands on four of the Broadland peninsulas or interfluves. The discovery of several possible Roman villas or large farmsteads makes a significant addition to the countywide distribution of this site-type.
For later periods, a considerable amount of new evidence for medieval and post medieval peat extraction was identified. Significant numbers of World War One to World War Two military sites were also recorded.
The images used on this page are copyright English Heritage unless specified otherwise. For further details of any photographs or other images and for copies of these, or the plans and reports related to the project please contact the English Heritage Archive.
For further information on a project or any other aspect of the work of the Aerial Survey team please contact us at: AerialSurvey@english-heritage.org.uk.
