Reasons for Designation
Earthen barrows are the most visually spectacular survivals of a wide variety
of funerary monuments in Britain dating to the Roman period. Constructed as
steep-sided conical mounds, usually of considerable size and occasionally with
an encircling bank or ditch, they covered one or more burials, generally
believed to be those of high-ranking individuals. The burials were mainly
cremations, although inhumations have been recorded, and were often deposited
with accompanying grave goods in chambers or cists constructed of wood, tile
or stone sealed beneath the barrow mound. Occasionally the mound appears to
have been built directly over a funeral pyre. The barrows usually occur
singly, although they can be grouped into "cemeteries" of up to ten examples.
They are sited in a variety of locations but often occur near Roman roads. A
small number of barrows were of particularly elaborate construction, with
masonry revetment walls or radial internal walls. Roman barrows are rare
nationally, with less than 150 recorded examples, and are generally restricted
to lowland England with the majority in East Anglia. The earliest examples
date to the first decades of the Roman occupation and occur mainly within this
East Anglian concentration. It has been suggested that they are the graves of
native British aristocrats who chose to perpetuate aspects of Iron Age burial
practice. The majority of the barrows were constructed in the early second
century AD but by the end of that century the fashion for barrow building
appears to have ended. Occasionally the barrows were re-used when secondary
Anglo-Saxon burials were dug into the mound. Many barrows were subjected to
cursory investigation by antiquarians in the 19th century and, as little
investigation to modern standards has taken place, they remain generally
poorly understood. As a rare monument type which exhibits a wide diversity of
burial tradition all Roman barrows, unless significantly damaged, are
identified as nationally important.
The Roman barrow 450m south west of Stukeley Park is a substantial earthwork
and exceptionally well-preserved. As part of a concentration of Roman
barrows in East Anglia it provides a unique insight into the social and
economic development of south east England in the early days of Roman
occupation. The barrow has not been excavated and most archaeological deposits
are therefore believed to survive intact.
Details
The monument includes a Roman barrow situated on the east side of Ermine
Street, 450m south west of Stukeley Hall. The mound survives as a substantial
earthwork encircled by a large ditch, from which earth was dug and used in the
construction of the mound.
The conical mound has a flat platform top and stands to a height of
approximately 2m from the bottom of the ditch. It covers an area approximately
23m in diameter. The south western edge of the mound and ditch have been cut
by Ermine Street, although the deeper deposits of the ditch are thought to
survive as a buried feature underneath the road and its verge. Elsewhere the
ditch is visible as a depression of 0.5m deep with a maximum width of 3m at
the bottom and approximately 6m at the top.
The monument is one of two barrows in close proximity situated next to the
Roman road, Ermine Street; the other barrow, situated 180m to the south east,
is the subject of a separate scheduling.
All fence posts and the modern road surface are excluded from the scheduling,
although the ground beneath these features is included.
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.
