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.
Details
The monument includes a Roman burial mound, or barrow, located some 260m north
east of South Ockendon Hall, on a terrace of fairly high ground on the western
slope of the Mar Dyke river valley. It originally stood as one of three such
barrows sited along the valley side at intervals of about 500m apart. The
other two barrows have long since been destroyed, although one was excavated
prior to destruction and found to date to the late second century AD.
The mound is oval in plan with a rounded profile rising to a flat summit at a
height of about 5m. It has a maximum diameter of 50m at the base where it is
surrounded by a largely buried ditch, visible as a slight depression measuring
up to 10m in width. A single trench excavated across the ditch and into the
edge of the mound in 1957 yielded 17 sherds of Roman pottery, indicating that
this barrow was also constructed in the second century. The interior of the
mound, including the central burial, was not disturbed.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
32426
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
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.
End of official list entry
