Bowl barrow 380m south west of Santon House

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 380m south west of Santon House survives well and the mound and deposits beneath it will retain archaeological information concerning its construction, the manner and duration of its use and the local environment at that time. Evidence for earlier land use is also likely to be preserved in soils buried beneath the mound. The monument has additional interest in relation to the prehistoric flint mines of Grimes Graves, which lie 3km to the north east, and, together with other barrows preserved in this part of the Breckland region, provides evidence for the study of the general character and development of prehistoric settlement in the area.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, prominently sited on a ridge overlooking the valley of the Little Ouse River which runs 310m to the north. The barrow is visible as an earthen mound standing to a height of c.1m and covering a circular area c.23m in diameter. The mound is encircled by a ditch c.3m in width from which earth was quarried during the construction of the barrow. This has become almost completely infilled and survives largely as a buried feature, although it can be traced as a very slight hollow in the ground surface.

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:

21435

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
STN 006 Santon Downham; Forest Heath, (1987)
Bamford, H, (1996)

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.

Print the official list entry