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 on Anmer Minque survives well and the greater part remains
undisturbed by the excavation of 1948, which was limited in extent. The
monument as a whole will retain archaeological information concerning the
construction of the barrow and the manner and duration of its use, as well as
evidence for the local environment at that time which is likely to be
preserved in soils buried beneath the mound. In the context of the local group
of round barrows of various types, this information has a broader significance
for the study of the character and distribution of the prehistoric population
of the area.
Prehistoric barrows, as conspicuous features of the landscape, were sometimes
chosen as meeting places, or moots, for courts and other bodies which dealt
with the administration and organisation of the countryside in the Saxon and
medieval periods. The identification of this barrow as moot hill for the
hundred, which in Saxon and medieval times was the basic unit of local
government and land management, gives it an additional historical interest.
Details
The monument includes a bowl barrow situated 150m west of Peddars Way, on
former heathland near the western edge of the Good Sands upland region of
north west Norfolk. The barrow, which is one of a dispersed group of round
barrows aligned on a north west to south east axis over a distance of c.2.6km,
is visible as an earthen mound standing to a height of c.1m and covering a
roughly circular area c.33m in diameter. The mound is thought to be surrounded
by a ditch from which earth was dug and used in the construction of the
barrow, and although this has become infilled and can no longer be traced on
the ground surface, it will survive as a buried feature. The estimated overall
diameter of the barrow including the ditch is c.43m. The date and character
of the barrow have been confirmed by the finding of fragments of Bronze Age
pottery in the course of a limited excavation carried out in 1948.
The barrow has been identified as the one reused as moot hill of the
Freebridge Hundred.
A field boundary fence which crosses the area of the monument on the north
west side is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it 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.
