Three bowl barrows and a ring ditch 850m and 750m north east of Neville House Farm

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.

Although the three bowl barrows and ring ditch north east of Neville House have undergone some disturbance by degrees of excavation and cultivation, the monument as a whole will retain archaeological information concerning the construction and the manner of the use of all four barrows and their stratigraphic and chronological relationship to one another. In addition limited excavation in the past has confirmed the date and function of the monument. Evidence for the local environment in the prehistoric period will also be preserved in the upstanding earthworks, in soils buried beneath the mounds and in the fills of the surrounding ditches, which were not investigated in the past, and also in the fill of the ditch and the central pit within the ring ditch. The proximity of the barrows to a number of other barrows in this part of the Breckland region give them additional interest. Together these barrows give some evidence of the character, development and density of the prehistoric population in this area.

Details

The monument is in two separate areas and includes three bowl barrows and a ring ditch situated on a gentle south west facing slope, to the east of the Icknield Way path. The ring ditch is sited in the parish of Ingham and the most easterly bowl barrow is sited in the parish of Little Livermere whilst the two most westerly bowl barrows are sited on the junction of the parishes of Ingham and Little Livermere.

The first area includes the three bowl barrows, the most northerly of which is visible as a large earthen mound, which stands to a height of about 1.5m and covers a circular area about 25m in diameter. A depression approximately 5m square and 0.5m deep at the centre of the mound is thought to be the result of an excavation by Canon Greenwell in 1868. He cut a number of trenches through the barrow and recovered six cremation burials from the sand constructed mound, including one in an urn and another which had been crudely overlain with rough flints. The whole of the northern side of the mound, together with parts of the west and south east sides, were left unexcavated to avoid the disturbance of trees.

A second bowl barrow is situated approximately 25m to the south east of the first. It is visible as a roughly circular mound, with a diameter of about 26m and a height of about 1.8m. It is recorded that `some trenching' of the barrow took place in the 1860s by friends of Hunter Rodwell, the then owner of Ampton Hall.

A third bowl barrow stands approximately 60m to the south of the first barrow and 40m to the south west of the second. It is visible as a circular mound, about 30m in diameter and 1.5m in height. An irregular hollow on the surface of the mound measures approximately 2m in diameter and 0.5m deep and may be the result of investigations by Paley of Ampton Hall, of which no further details are known.

It is thought that the three mounds are encircled by ditches from which earth was quarried during the construction of the barrows, and although these have now become infilled and are no longer visible, they will survive as buried features below the ground surface.

The second area includes the fourth barrow located approximately 60m to the west of the first. The ditch of this survives as a buried feature producing a cropmark (areas of differential crop growth over buried archaeological features), visible on aerial photographs, which defines a circular enclosure 30m in diameter known as a ring ditch, containing a central pit. The protection includes a 5m margin for the support and preservation of the ring ditch.

The three barrows and ring ditch are known to be the survivors of a larger group of seven barrows. The other three were sited close to the surviving ring ditch west of the A134 Bury St Edmunds to Thetford road in the parish of Ingham and were levelled in the first quarter of the 19th century when the heathland was enclosed. It is recorded that during the removal of soil from the barrows an `urn of dark earth filled with bones' was recovered. Since that time ploughing has caused further destruction to the remains of these barrows and by 1976 they were no longer visible on aerial photographs. For this reason they are not included in the scheduling.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

31104

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Blomefield, F, An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, (1805), 1,3
Blomefield, F, An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, (1805), 1, 3
Blomefield, F, An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, (1805), 1,3
Greenfield, W, The Quarterly Journal of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology in Examination of Suffolk Tumuli: The Seven Hills, Ampton., (1869), 19-20
Greenfield, W, The Quarterly Journal of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology in Examination of Suffolk Tumuli: The Seven Hills, Ampton., (1869), 19-20
Greenfield, W, The Quarterly Journal of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology in Examination of Suffolk Tumuli: The Seven Hills, Ampton., (1869), 19-20
Moss, G, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology in , Vol. 31, (1968), 189

Other
OS AP 76/060/235, Ordnance Survey, (1976)
SMR, Seven Hills Barrow Group, (1989)
OS/76060 Frame 235, Ordnance Survey, (1976)

End of official list entry

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