Bowl barrow in Hobbin's Belt, 850m south-east of White House Farm: part of Seven Hills barrow cemetery

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 barrow 850m south-east of White House Farm is a component of one of the best examples of a round barrow cemetery in Suffolk and, as such, retains important archaeological information in relation to the cemetery as a whole. Most barrow cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including different types of round barrow and, wherever large scale investigation beyond barrows has been undertaken, revealing contemporary or later 'flat' burials beyond the barrow mounds. The barrow will contain archaeological deposits undisturbed by the construction and subsequent removal of a signal box and by military trenching in World War II, as has been demonstrated by excavation and evaluation of other, similarly damaged barrows in neighbouring areas. Evidence concerning the construction of the barrow, the manner and duration of its use, and also the local environment at that time, will be preserved in the barrow mound and in the soils buried beneath it. The Seven Hills cemetery is part of a larger group of round barrows and circular ditched enclosures which extend in a line to the south- east, over a distance of 3km, to Levington Heath. The former parish boundary between Nacton, to the north, and Bucklesham and Foxhall, to the south, follows the same line, showing a relationship which is of particular interest for the prehistoric and medieval landscape history of the area.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow within Seven Hills barrow cemetery, located beside the Ipswich-Felixstowe railway, in a narrow belt of woodland bounded by the A1156, to the north, and the railway line to the south. The barrow is visible as an irregular earthen mound, cut by the foundations of a signal box, now completely demolished and removed, and by military trenches dug during World War II. The original dimensions of the mound are not recorded but, in their present condition, the earthworks stand to a height of c.1.8m and cover an area measuring c.27m north-west to south-east and 16m north-east to south-west. The highest part of the mound has been augmented by upcast from a large trench, 4m wide, which runs north-east to south-west through it, and the much lower area on the south-eastern side of the monument is cut by a rectilinear complex of trenches, all c.1m wide. The remains of the original barrow mound will be preserved beneath the spoil from these later features.

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:

21285

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Wodderspoon, J, Memorials of Ipswich, (1850)

Other
Suffolk SMR ACQ30, 31,
Quoting NMR TM24SW15N, Suffolk SMR NAC 013,

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.