National Mapping Programme in Norfolk

The National Mapping Programme (NMP) is an English Heritage initiative, which aims to map and interpret all archaeological sites throughout England visible on aerial photographs. The aim of the project is to gain an understanding and to provide a synthesis of past human settlement and activity from the Neolithic period to the twentieth century. In 2001 Norfolk became approximately the 23rd region of England to undertake the mapping and the project is externally funded by the Archaeology Commissions Programme. Thirty-two projects are currently underway with c. 30% of the country already mapped and areas such as Essex, North and West Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire nearing completion. Each project not only maps and interprets the sites, but it also undertakes analysis, synthesis and publication of the archaeology encountered.

The NMP mapping uses a variety of aerial photographs, including the approximately 86,000 aerial photographs from the Norfolk Air Photography Library. Aerial photographs will also be consulted from the National Monuments Record Collection (held at Swindon), Cambridge University aerial photographs from the Unit for Landscape Modelling and vertical photography from Norfolk County Council and Environment Agency collections. The systematic consultation of aerial photographs reveals a massive proportion of previously unknown sites. The Norfolk NMP project to date has almost doubled the amount of archaeological sites recorded for each area mapped. This trend is consistent with national NMP results and clearly illustrates how the project will dramatically transform our knowledge of the archaeological landscape of the whole of England.

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