Bowl barrow known as Traveller's Hill tumulus

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1017788
Date first listed:: 17-Sep-1962

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1017788
Date first listed:: 17-Sep-1962
Date of most recent amendment:: 23-Feb-1998

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Suffolk
District:: West Suffolk (District Authority)
Parish:: Wordwell
National Grid Reference:: TL 84204 74498

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, known as Traveller's Hill tumulus survives well and will retain archaeological information concerning its construction and the manner and duration of its use. Evidence for the local environment prior to and during that time will also be preserved in soils buried beneath the mound and in the fill of the buried ditch. The proximity of the barrow to a number of other barrows in this part of the Breckland region give it additional interest. Together these barrows give some evidence of the character, development and density of the prehistoric population in this area.

Details

The monument, which includes a bowl barrow, is located on a gentle west facing slope in a plantation within the Kings Forest, Wordwell. The barrow is visible as an earthen mound, which stands to a height of approximately 0.9m and is about 38m in diameter. It is thought that the mound is encircled by a ditch from which earth was quarried during the construction of the barrow. Although this has now become completely infilled and is no longer visible, it will survive as a buried feature approximately 3m wide.

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:: 31085
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
Suffolk County Sites and Monument Record, (1949)
Title: Ordnance Survey 6" Prov Edition 1958 Ordnance Survey 1" 1st Edition 1843 Source Date: 1843 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 1985

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.