Two Bowl Barrows 250m north-west of Prince of Wales Covert

Summary

Two bowl barrows, most likely of Bronze Age date, located approximately 250m north-west of Prince of Wales Covert.

Reasons for Designation

Two bowl barrows north-west of Prince of Wales Covert, most likely of Bronze Age date are scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Survival: as well preserved earthwork monuments representing the diversity of burial practices, beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities.

* Potential: for the stratified archaeological deposits which retain considerable potential to provide invaluable evidence not only for the individuals buried within but also evidence for the ideology, variation in burial practices and social organisation of the communities and social networks that were using the landscape in this way;

* Group value: for their close proximity to other related and contemporary scheduled monuments such as the two bowl barrows north-west of Water End Farm (NHLE 1431115), and that on Lowster Hill (NHLE 1430573). The barrows also form part of a multi-period landscape unencumbered by modern development and therefore offer a very high level of archaeological potential to enable understanding of the continuity and change in the use of the landscape from the Bronze Age up to the present day.

History

The treatment, burial and commemoration of the dead have been a distinctive part of human life for millennia, and these activities have often left physical remains. The remains of the dead have been dealt with in remarkably varied ways in the past and it appears that, in the prehistoric period especially, only a small proportion of the population received a burial which has left traces detectable using current methods. Round barrows are distinctive burial monuments which can represent both individual burials as well as larger burial groups. They are one of the main sources of information about life in this period.

The main period of round barrow construction occurred in the Early Bronze Age between about 2200-1500 BC (a period when cremation succeeded inhumation as the primary burial rite), although Neolithic examples are known from as early as 3000 BC. In general round barrows comprise a rounded earthen mound or stone cairn, the earthen examples usually having a surrounding ditch and occasionally an outer bank. They range greatly in size from just 5m in diameter to as much as 40m, with the mounds ranging from slight rises to as much as 4m in height. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Round barrows are the most numerous of the various prehistoric funerary monuments.

The most common form of round barrow is referred to as a bowl barrow. These are inverted pudding bowl-shaped mounds with slopes of varying profile, sometimes with a surrounding ditch and occasionally an outer bank.

The two bowl barrows north west of Prince of Wales Covert are believed to be Bronze Age in origin but no archaeological excavations have taken place. Neither have previously been scheduled. They lie in close proximity to other related and contemporary scheduled monuments such as the two bowl barrows north-west of Water End Farm (NHLE 1431115), and that on Lowster Hill (NHLE 1430573).

Details

Two bowl barrows north-west of Prince of Wales Covert most likely of Bronze Age origin.

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
These two barrows survive as earthen mounds covered in rough grass with clusters of bracken across their surface. The southernmost mound, centred at grid ref TL8732595849, is the most clearly defined and measures approximately 22m in diameter and 1m high. The second mound lies approximately 35m to the north centred at TL8732695907 and is more subtly defined being approximately 17m in diameter and 0.5m high.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING
The scheduled area includes a 2m buffer zone around the circumference of each mound.

Sources

Books and journals
Lawson, AJ, Martin, EA, Priddy, D, Taylor, A, East Anglian Archaeology Report No. 12 The Barrows of East Anglia, (1981)

Other
Historic Environment Record no. 37064 - records southern barrow

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