Summary
Bowl barrow located within Mound Plantation, most likely of Bronze Age date.
Reasons for Designation
The bowl barrow at Mound Plantation, most likely of Bronze Age date, is scheduled for the following principal reasons: * Survival: as a well preserved earthwork monument representing the diversity of burial practices, beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities; * Potential: for the stratified archaeological deposits which retain considerable potential to provide invaluable evidence not only for the individuals buried within but also evidence for the ideology, variation in burial practices and social organisation of the communities and social networks that were using the landscape in this way; * Group value: for its close proximity to other related and contemporary scheduled monuments such as the two bowl barrows east-south-east of North East Lodge, Buckenham Tofts (NHLE1003915) and that at Slave's Hill (NHLE1431697). The barrow also forms part of a multi-period landscape unencumbered by modern development and therefore offers a very high level of archaeological potential to enable understanding of the continuity and change in the use of the landscape from the Bronze Age up to the present day.
History
The treatment, burial and commemoration of the dead have been a distinctive part of human life for millennia, and these activities have often left physical remains. The remains of the dead have been dealt with in remarkably varied ways in the past and it appears that, in the prehistoric period especially, only a small proportion of the population received a burial which has left traces detectable using current methods. Round barrows are distinctive burial monuments which can represent both individual burials as well as larger burial groups. They are one of the main sources of information about life in this period. The main period of round barrow construction occurred in the Early Bronze Age between about 2200-1500 BC (a period when cremation succeeded inhumation as the primary burial rite), although Neolithic examples are known from as early as 3000 BC. In general round barrows comprise a rounded earthen mound or stone cairn, the earthen examples usually having a surrounding ditch and occasionally an outer bank. They range greatly in size from just 5m in diameter to as much as 40m, with the mounds ranging from slight rises to as much as 4m in height. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Round barrows are the most numerous of the various prehistoric funerary monuments. The most common form of round barrow is referred to as a bowl barrow. These are inverted pudding bowl-shaped mounds with slopes of varying profile, sometimes with a surrounding ditch and occasionally an outer bank. The bowl barrow in Mound Plantation, locally known as 'The Mount' is believed to be Bronze Age in origin but no archaeological excavations have taken place to confirm this. The barrow and Mound Plantation are clearly labelled on the 1884, 1905 and 1953 OS maps. The barrow was first scheduled in 1970 as monument NF320.
Details
Bowl barrow located within Mound Plantation, most likely of Bronze Age date. PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
The barrow is located in the centre of Mound Plantation, at the west end of Stanford Parish. The barrow is clearly defined as a round mound within woodland. It is grass covered with clumps of nettle across its surface. The mound measures approximately 25m in diameter and 2m in height with no evidence of a ditch. A six-pointed star on a post positioned on the centre of the mound marks the site as a scheduled monument.
The barrow lies in close proximity to the two bowl barrows east-south-east of North East Lodge, Buckenham Tofts (NHLE1003915) and that at Slave's Hill (NHLE1431697). It is also located approximately 870m north-east of Lynford Hall, a C19 house listed at Grade II (NHLE 1342594), and its associated park and garden, registered at Grade II (NHLE 100224). EXTENT OF SCHEDULING
The scheduled area includes a 2m buffer zone around the circumference of the barrow. EXCLUSIONS
The Ministry of Defence, star-shaped sign in the centre of the mound is excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath it is included.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
NF 320
Legacy System:
RSM - OCN
Sources
Books and journals Lawson, A J, Martin, E A, Priddy, D, The Barrows of East Anglia, (1981)Other Cushion, B., STANTA ILMP Woodland Eartwork Rapid Identification Survey (2002) Norfolk Historic Environment Record - 5154
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
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