Bowl barrow known as Hill of Health, Brockley Corner

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 the Hill of Health survives well. The area of disturbance caused by the antiquarian excavation is small relative to the monument as a whole, which 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 fills of the buried ditch. The proximity of the barrow to a number of other barrows in this part of the Breckland region gives it additional interest. The Breckland region represents one of the main concentrations of barrows in Suffolk and the distribution of the barrows corresponds with those areas which have been under heathland over the past 200 years. Together these barrows provide evidence for the character, development and density of the prehistoric population in the area.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located on a gentle south facing slope immediately east of a route of the Icknield Way. The barrow is visible as a earthen mound which stands to a height of approximately 2.7m, and covers a roughly circular area with a maximum diameter of about 31m. The mound slopes steeply on the north and east sides, and more gently on the south and west. A hollow, about 5m wide by 0.5m deep in the southern side of the mound is known to be the result of an antiquarian investigation. It is thought that the mound is encircled by a ditch approximately 3m wide from which earth was quarried during the construction of the barrow and, although this has now become completely infilled and is no longer visible, it will survive as a buried feature. The surface of the trackway to the west, and the surface of the drive and the birdbath to the south of the barrow mound are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

31087

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Green, Mrs J , (1989)

End of official list entry

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