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 group of six barrows 500m south-east of White House Farm forms a part of
one of the best examples of a round barrow cemetery in Suffolk. Most such
cemeteries developed over a long 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 between the barrow mounds. The individual barrows in this
group retain important archaeological information, including evidence
concerning their construction, the manner and duration of their use, and also
the local environment at that time, which will be preserved in the mounds and
in the soils buried beneath the mounds. Further evidence relating to the use
of the cemetery will be contained in archaeological deposits in the area
between the mounds.
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 south, and Bucklesham and Foxhall, to the north, follows the
same line, showing a relationship which is of particular interest for the
study of the prehistoric and medieval landscape history of the area.
Details
The monument includes a group of six bowl barrows clustered within Seven Hills
barrow cemetery, situated in a narrow belt of woodland between the A1156, to
the north, and the Ipswich-Felixstowe railway line, to the south. The barrows
are visible as earthen mounds, the largest of which covers a circular area 31m
in diameter and stands to a height of 1.2m. This is the most northerly of the
group. The smallest, located 34m west of the first, measures 0.4m in height
and is recorded as having covered an area c.11m in diameter, although the part
which remains upstanding now has a maximum diameter of 5m. South-west of this,
at a distance of 11m, is the third mound, which measures 1.4m in height and
22m in diameter and which is in alignment with a further two, sited to the
south-east of it at intervals of 20m and 18m respectively. The middle mound of
this alignment is clipped on the south-western edge by the fence bordering the
railway line. It stands to a height of 0.75m and covers a sub-circular area
with a maximum diameter of 20m. The easternmost mound, which is similarly
truncated on the south-western edge by the boundary of the railway line,
measures 15m north-east to south-west by c.12m north-east to south-west and
stands to a height of 0.7m. The sixth mound lies 35m east of this, on the
eastern side of the group as a whole, and measures c.27m in diameter and 0.5m
in height. The barrows occupy an area with maximum dimensions of 155m north-
west to south-east and 80m north-east to south-west.
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.
