Five bowl barrows 490m and 500m north west of Bussock Barn

Reasons for Designation

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

These five bowl barrows north west of Bussock Barn survive well, both individually and as a group. Archaeological information concerning their construction, the manner and duration of their use, and their inter-relationship, as well as evidence for the local environment at that time, will be contained in the mounds, the infill of the ditches, and in soils buried beneath the mounds. The proximity of the monument to the remains of what is believed to be another prehistoric barrow cemetery, including evidence for round barrows of varying type and construction, give it additional interest.

Details

The monument, which is in two separate areas of protection, includes a group of five bowl barrows located near the edge of a short, south-facing spur in an area of sandy heathland. The barrows are visible as earthen mounds, circular in plan and of varying size. Three of them are closely spaced on an approximately north-south alignment within the remains of a small plantation. At the southern end of the alignment is the largest of the mounds, which stands to a height of approximately 1.2m and covers an area approximately 25m in diameter. Immediately NNW of this is the second mound, measuring approximately 13m in diameter and 0.6m in height. The third mound lies 9.5m to the north of the second and has the same dimensions. All three mounds are thought to be encircled by ditches, estimated to be 3m in width, from which earth was quarried during the construction of the barrows. These ditches have become completely infilled and are no longer visible, but will survive as buried features.

The fourth and fifth barrow mounds are located approximately 35m to the east of the first group and are 3.5m apart, lying just outside the boundary of the plantation. Both are small in size relative to the first three, one measuring 8m in diameter and 0.7m in height, and the other, to the south east of it, measuring 7m in diameter and 0.6m in height. These mounds, also, are believed to be encircled by buried ditches, estimated to be 2m in width.

A bank up to 0.7m in height and slight outer ditch, visible along part of the northern edge of the plantation, are thought to be remains of a woodbank around the plantation and therefore of much later date than the barrows. These earthworks, which have an overall width of about 6m, touch the northern edge of the northernmost of the first group of barrows tangentially and, where they do so, a contiguous length measuring approximately 22m WNW-ESE is included in the scheduling to preserve the relationship between the features.

The buried remains of what is considered to be another prehistoric round barrow cemetery, displaying evidence for barrows of varying size and construction and associated ceremonial enclosures, have been recorded by means of aerial photography 1km to the south west, in the neighbouring parish of Shottisham, and are the subject of a separate scheduling.

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:

21393

Legacy System:

RSM

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