Bowl barrow 180m ENE of Sheep Drift Farm

Reasons for Designation

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Records of the barrow ENE of Sheep Drift Farm, made before the greater part of the mound was hidden by a cover of additional topsoil, indicate that it was subjected to a limited excavation at some unknown date in the past but that the extent of this disturbance was minor. Evidence of the manner in which the barrow was constructed and used, of the duration of its use and of the local environment at and prior to that time will be preserved in the mound, in the soils buried beneath the mound, and in deposits in the buried ditch. The importance of this monument is enhanced by the fact that it is situated close to another barrow which lies 30m to the south-east, and that both are among the several which remain of a large group recorded in the area.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow which consists of an earthen mound encircled by a ditch. The mound covers an area c 19m in diameter and was recorded in 1977 as standing to a height of 0.5m. Since then it has been raised to c 1.8m by the dumping of topsoil and organic matter over the central area and converted into a garden feature. The original earthwork has a maximum height of c 0.4m where it projects beyond this cover on the southern and eastern sides, and it is also visible as a slight hump, c 0.25m in height, beneath the concrete surface of a track which crosses it on the northern side. The ditch, from which earth was dug and used during construction of the barrow, has become filled-in and, although visible at one time as a slight depression in the ground surface, it now exists only as a buried feature. Excluded from the scheduling are a fence which runs across the mound from east to west and the concrete surface of the track which crosses it on the northern side, although the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

21260

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Barrow survey, Martin E, Suffolk SMR BGL 011, (1977)
AM7 (AI 126610),

End of official list entry

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