Bowl barrow at Slave's Hill

Summary

Bowl barrow known as Slave’s Hill, most likely of Bronze Age date.

Reasons for Designation

The bowl barrow known as Slave's Hill, most likely of Bronze Age origin, is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Survival: as a well preserved earthwork monument 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 its close proximity to other related and contemporary scheduled monuments such as the bowl barrows at Man Hill (NHLE 1004033), at 330m from North East Lodge (NHLE 1004039) and at Mound Plantation (NHLE 1003950). The barrow also forms part of a multi-period landscape unencumbered by modern development that therefore offers 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 bowl barrow at Slave’s Hill is believed to be Bronze Age in origin but no archaeological excavations have taken place. It lies in close proximity to other related and contemporary scheduled monuments such as the bowl barrows at Man Hill (NHLE 1004033), at 330m from North East Lodge (NHLE 1004039) and at Mound Plantation (NHLE 1003950).

The mound was later incorporated into the post-medieval landscaped park of Buckenham Tofts Hall, and is depicted on the 1824-1838 Ordnance Survey (OS) map. The contours of the barrow are clearly shown on the 1884 and 1905 OS maps, planted with trees, and the mound is labelled as Slave’s Hill from the 1905 OS map onwards. Buckenham Tofts Hall and its estate buildings were demolished in 1946, when the parkland was acquired for military training. The bowl barrow at Slave’s Hill was recorded by the Norfolk Archaeological Unit in 1985 and 1988.

Details

Bowl barrow at Slave’s Hill, most likely of Bronze Age date.

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
The bowl barrow at Slave’s Hill is located within the north-west corner of Buckenham Tofts Park, at the bend of the River Wissey, and is clearly defined as an oval mound within a large clearing. The bowl barrow measures approximately 35m in length, 28m in width and is approximately 3.5-4m in height with no evidence of a ditch. Erosion scars at a height of approximately 1.5m are the result of poaching (hoof damage) by sheep. The mound is grass covered but with dense clumps of nettles and substantial box trees across its surface. The box trees are evident on aerial photos dating to 1946.

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

Sources

Books and journals
Lawson, A J, Martin, E A, Priddy, D, The Barrows of East Anglia, (1981)

Websites
Aerial Photographs 1946, accessed 12th March 2016 from http://www.historic-maps. norfolk.gov.uk/mapexplorer/

Other
Norfolk Historic Environment Record - 21998

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