Summary
The earthwork and buried remains of a Bronze Age bowl barrow located 500m to the south-west of Waterhall Farm (listed Grade II).
Reasons for Designation
The earthwork and buried remains of Hilly Plantation Bowl Barrow, located 500m to the south-west of Waterhall Farm, within a small copse immediately to the north-east of the Waterhall Interchange (A11/A14 Junction 38), is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: the bowl barrow survives well; the mound has not been excavated and is believed to stand close to its original height;
* Potential: funerary remains together with other artefacts and structural evidence contained within the mound will provide details of the date of its construction, the duration of use and the character of prehistoric burial. The former ground surface beneath the mound will retain valuable evidence for activities preceding its construction, and environmental information illustrating the appearance of the landscape in which the monument was set;
* Group value: the association between this barrow and the others which form both the Chippenham Barrow Cemetery and the wider alignment is highly significant, providing insights into the development of ritual practice, the position of the prehistoric trackway across the chalk escarpment, and the pattern of prehistoric settlement in the region.
History
Barrows, sometimes described as tumuli on early Ordnance Survey (OS) maps, are mounds of earth and/or stone (stone examples are often called cairns) of various shapes and sizes that are characteristic earthwork monuments of the prehistoric periods. Barrows were amongst the earliest of monuments recognised by antiquarians who dug into many during the C18 and C19 in the mistaken belief that they contained treasures. In fact, rich grave goods are rare and when excavated most barrows contain a few relatively mundane objects. Human burials were sometimes encountered and consequently these mounds were often considered to be the burial places of prominent people. There was a focus on this burial aspect throughout the C20 but, increasingly, the complexity of the features beneath the mound rendered any simple explanation of function inappropriate.
Round barrows have a considerable pedigree with origins dating to before 5,000 years ago (3000 BC). The main period of round barrow construction occurred between about 4,000 and 3,500 years ago (2000-1500 BC). Subtleties on the surface only rarely allow different forms to be distinguished and most occur as simple amorphous swellings. The most common type is referred to as a bowl barrow, funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. These are inverted pudding bowl-shaped mounds with slopes of varying profile, sometimes with a surrounding ditch and occasionally an outer bank. They might reach over 40m in diameter and as much as 4m in height, although much smaller versions can occur that measure just 5m or 6m across. Nonetheless, most barrow mounds have been damaged and large numbers have been partly or completely levelled by agriculture, which make those surviving as earthworks all the more important. Barrows remain one of the main sources of information about life in the prehistoric periods.
Although barrows are often isolated, many occur in groups, sometimes of just two or three, but occasionally of up to thirty or more. These are called barrow cemeteries and typically consist of barrows in a variety of forms that have accumulated over many generations. In such cases the land between and around the barrows is important as it may contain evidence of paraphernalia associated with the functioning of the monument such as avenues, burials, pyres and feasting areas. Some barrow groups cluster together in small areas, while others take on a looser arrangement with groups of two or three spaced at much greater intervals. In some instances, groups take on a linear form. Groups of barrows are sometimes found in association with other monuments that are also often assumed to have served a ceremonial or ritual purpose during the Neolithic and Bronze Age. These include avenues, cursuses, henges, mortuary enclosures, stone and timber circles. Such relationships are little understood but the variety of spatial and chronological associations provide invaluable areas for archaeological study, for example, allowing greater precision in the dating of these monuments. Barrows can occur anywhere within the landscape and large numbers of levelled examples occur in river valleys. Sites in bogs or river valleys where anaerobic conditions might allow exceptional preservation of organic materials are particularly valuable to archaeologists as they provide evidence that has usually perished elsewhere.
Hilly Plantation Barrow was first recorded on the OS 25-inch map of 1885. In 1923 it was noted in C Fox's ‘Archaeology of the Cambridge Region’ as belonging to a dispersed group or cemetery of at least 10 similar barrows extending over a distance of around 1.5km to the south of Chippenham Park. It was recorded as being unexcavated at this time, and as there is no evidence of archaeological excavation since, the mound is therefore assumed to remain substantially undisturbed.
Details
PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: the earthwork and buried remains of a Bronze Age bowl barrow located 500m to the south-west of Waterhall Farm (listed Grade II), within a small copse immediately to the north-east of the Waterhall Interchange (A11/A14 Junction 38). The barrow was one of at least 10 barrows identified in the 1930s as forming part of the Chippenham Barrow Cemetery, seven of which still survive and are scheduled separately (National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entries: 1015243, 1015244, and 1015246).
DETAILS: the barrow stands on the broad ridge of a low chalk escarpment overlain by bands of river terrace deposits of sands and gravel. To the south a slight gradient descends in the direction of Newmarket, and to the north the ground gradually falls towards Chippenham and the Fen edge around Worlington and Iselham. Its mound is roughly circular in plan and domed in profile, measuring around 25m in diameter and 1.4m in height. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds the mound. This has become infilled over the years but will survive as a buried feature some 3m wide.
Hilly Plantation Barrow forms part of a dispersed group or cemetery which included at least ten similar barrows, seven of which still survive and are scheduled separately. The cemetery is aligned broadly east-west, extending over a distance of around 1.5km to the south of Chippenham Park. Hilly Plantation barrow lies towards the western side of the alignment, some 320m from its nearest neighbour to the east, The Rookery bowl barrow (NHLE entry: 1015244), and separated by the line of the A11 from a group of four barrows clustered on the north side of the interchange, some of which were excavated in 1973 prior to the construction of the dual carriageways: those which survive comprise NHLE entry: 1015246). The furthest extant barrow (NHLE entry: 1015243) lies to the south of the Ely to Bury St Edmunds railway line, some 1.1km to the east of the Watherhall Interchange. This was originally part of a group of three barrows, two of which were excavated in 1940 but were subsequently destroyed by ploughing. This alignment, together with further outlying barrows near Newmarket and Barton Mills, broadly correlates with the course of the Roman road between Great Chesterford and Thetford. The barrows are also indicative of a far earlier prehistoric trackway following the Icknield Way across the edge of the chalk escarpment.
EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: the scheduled area is depicted on the attached map and includes a 5m buffer zone which is considered to be essential for the monument's management and preservation.
