Bowl barrow and adjacent section of a boundary bank in Rendlesham Forest, 1400m west of Valley 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.

The mound of the barrow 1400m west of Valley Farm may have undergone some superficial disturbance as a result of forestry work on the site, but the greater part of the monument survives well. Evidence concerning the construction and use of the barrow and the local environment prior to and at the time of its construction will be contained in the mound itself, in the soils preserved beneath the mound and also in deposits in the buried ditch which surrounds it. The importance of the barrow is enhanced by its proximity to several others in the area, the closest being 160m to the south-east. The relationship between the barrow and the adjacent boundary bank will, in addition, be of interest for the medieval landscape history of the area.

Details

The monument includes a small bowl barrow and a section of an adjacent boundary bank. The barrow is visible as a sub-circular, earthen mound which is encircled by a ditch. The mound stands to a height of 1m and covers an area measuring 11m east-west by 8m north-south. The surrounding ditch, from which earth was dug and used during construction of the barrow, has become almost completely filled, but is marked by a slight hollow in the ground surface to the south of the mound. On the north side of the mound, and distinct from it, is a bank c 1.3m high and 5m wide which marks the boundary between the parishes of Boyton to the south and Capel St Andrew to the north. The construction of this bank subsequent to the barrow accounts for the truncated appearance of the mound on the north side. On the mound is set a limestone boundary marker dated to the late 18th century and inscribed with the letters A H on the south face and B.T(?) on the north face. A H may signify Lord Archibald Hamilton who was a landowner in the area between about 1771-1786. Prehistoric bowl barrows were sometimes re-used as boundary markers in medieval times, and the relationship between the boundary bank and this barrow is of particular interest.

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:

21254

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Site Report, Newman, J, Suffolk SMR BOY 012, (1985)

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