Cropmarks of Bronze Age ring ditches near Popesmill Farm (EHER 1625)

A ring ditch is visible as a cropmark on air photographs at Sturmer. One of a pair (it is immediately adjacent), it is visible as a circular ditched enclosure circa 50 to 55 metres in diameter. No entrance is visible. In the early 1980s a diffuse mound circa 0.5 metres high was still visible, and flint flakes and implements were collected during fieldwalking.

Two ring ditches: a penannular ring ditch with cross trenches in the centre for a wind mill, also 'squarish' dark feature adjacent to these and dark features concentrated outside one part of the ditch opposite the entrance, a large circular enclosure with no visible break in the ditch. To the west of both, rectangular dark features. <1> <2> APs show a circular ditch 36m in diameter, a 2nd circular ditch c22m in diameter with opposed entrances in the north east and south west quadrants 20m from the first ditch. The first ring ditch 'is just visible on the ground as a diffuse mound, c0.5m above the surrounding area and may be presumed to represent the site of a barrow'. The other feature 'may represent a small ritual enclosure of the henge variety rather than a barrow, which could give a neolithic date', but in the absence of more definite dating evidence the feature is presumed to be the causewayed ditch of a ploughed out barrow. The area has been fieldwalked and flintwork recovered. Finds included: 1 core, 1 scraper, 2 piercers, notched pieces, retouched pieces. 3 types of working were present-artefacts tending towards blade production, heavily white patinated, carefully flaked pieces using prepared platforms, casually selected material as expected in late convenience tools. All the material was much plough damaged. <3> - <7> Finds to go to Saffron Walden Museum. <8> Copy of cropmark plot in SMR. <9> Possible henge? <10> See also: <11> <12> NRHE data transfer: Crop marks of possible ring ditches at TL 695444. <13> 1984. Fieldwalking. Flint flakes and implements were collected during fieldwalking on the site of two ring ditches shown on aerial photographs. The larger of the two ring-ditches was just visible on the ground as a diffuse mound c.0.5m above the surrounding area and may be presumed to represent the site of a barrow; however, the feature with opposed entrance may represent a small ritual enclosure of the henge variety rather than a barrow, which could give a Neolithic date, but lacking any more definite dating evidence one must presume it is the causewayed ditch of a ploughed-out barrow also. <14> Additional reference: <15>