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.
The bowl barrow 1150m ENE of Crow Hall is part of one of the principal round
barrow groups remaining in north west Norfolk, and retains archaeological
information which has additional interest in this context. The disturbance
caused by gravel digging to the south east of the barrow mound is limited in
extent relative to the monument as a whole, and evidence for the construction
of the barrow, the manner and duration of its use, and for the local
environment at the time, will be preserved in the mound, in the soil buried
beneath the mound and in the fill of a buried ditch. The barrow group as a
whole is of wider importance for the study of the character and development of
the prehistoric population of the area.
Details
The monument includes a bowl barrow which is one of a dispersed group of round
barrows, sited on a broad ridge at the western edge of the Good Sands upland
region of north west Norfolk. The barrow stands on a slight south west facing
slope c.600m east of Peddars Way and is visible as a mound c.3m high, covering
a subcircular area measuring c.21m north east-south west by c.19m north
west-south east. The mound is believed to be surrounded by a ditch which
has become infilled but which survives as a buried feature. The mound has an
asymmetrical profile, shelving and slightly irregular on the south eastern
side, and this irregularity is probably the result of disturbance during
the 19th century, when a gravel pit (now infilled) was dug immediately to the
south of the barrow. F C Lukis examined the mound in 1843 and noted that it
had been cut into by the quarrying, which had exposed bones and burnt
material.
The barrow group as a whole is aligned on a north west-south east axis over
a distance of c.2.6km.
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.
