Multi phased site dating from the Neolithic to the Anglo-Saxon period east of Harford Farm

Summary

A site representing multiple periods of occupation, including the crop mark remains of a barrow cemetery of late Neolithic or Bronze Age date, Iron Age round houses and associated structures, a group of square-ditched funerary monuments of later Iron Age or Roman date, several phases of enclosures and fields of later prehistoric to Roman date and an Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemetery.

Reasons for Designation

The multi-phased site east of Harford Farm is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Survival: the remains of this multi-period site are visible as clearly defined crop marks on aerial photography, the level of survival has been established by selective excavation between 1989 and 1992 in advance of the construction of the Norwich Southern Bypass (A47);

* Period: the site represents multiple periods of occupation and funerary ritual from the Neolithic period through to the Anglo-Saxon period;

* Documentation: the importance of the site is enhanced by the detailed mapping of aerial photographic evidence since 1929 and excavation records from the mid to late C20. Together these documents enhance our knowledge and understanding of the site;

* Diversity: the site represents multiple periods of activity dating from the late Neolithic or Bronze Age to the Anglo-Saxon period. The diversity of features and periods represented will help us understand the change and continuity in the use of the landscape over a long period of time;

* Potential: for the buried deposits which retain considerable potential to provide evidence relating to social organisation and demographics, cultural associations, human development, disease, diet, and death rituals of the communities living in the landscape;

* Group value: it forms part of a wider group of ceremonial and funerary monuments focused on the confluence of the Rivers Tas and Yare, including a scheduled barrow cemetery 450m north of Markshall Farm (NHLE 1495428), a scheduled henge-like monument and D-shaped enclosure 300m west of Twins Farm (NHLE 1002887), and a scheduled henge at Arminghall (NHLE 1003985).

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 the prehistoric periods.

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. 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 organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. Round barrows are the most numerous of the various prehistoric funerary monuments.

Disc barrows, the most fragile type of round barrow, are funerary monuments of the Early Bronze Age, with most examples dating to the period 1400-1200 BC. They occur either in isolation or in barrow cemeteries (closely spaced groups of round barrows). Disc barrows were constructed as a circular or oval area of level ground defined by a bank and internal ditch and containing one or more centrally or eccentrically located small, low mounds covering burials, usually in pits. The burials, normally cremations, are frequently accompanied by pottery vessels, tools and personal ornaments. It has been suggested that disc barrows were normally used for the burial of women, although this remains unproven. However, it is likely that the individuals buried were of high status. Disc barrows are rare nationally, with about 250 known examples, most of which are in Wessex. Their richness in terms of grave goods provides important evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst prehistoric communities over a wide area of southern England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a particularly rare and fragile form of round barrow, all identified disc barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.

Round barrows occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Groups of round barrows or barrow cemeteries comprise closely spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex and in some cases are clustered around other important contemporary monuments.

The later Bronze Age was a period of transition from the simple agricultural regimes of the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age to the settled and intensive exploitation that characterises Iron Age and Roman Britain. During the Iron Age (800 BC-AD 43) the number and range of settlements increased substantially. At a small scale, Iron Age farmsteads formed the dwelling places of individual families or kinship groups engaged in mixed farming, often at subsistence level. They typically consist of clusters of round houses and rectangular timber structures within curvilinear ditched enclosures, although not all farmsteads were enclosed. Farmsteads predominated as a settlement form through the Roman period (AD 43-410).

Some settlements were formed of several farmsteads grouped together within a single enclosure. Where excavated, these sites are often found to contain pits or rectangular post-built structures for the storage of grain and other produce, evidence of an organised and efficient farming system. The enclosures that surrounded farmsteads would have provided protection against cattle rustling and tribal raiding. Some curvilinear enclosures are superseded by rectilinear or triangular shaped enclosures with rectilinear buildings. Many examples were occupied over an extended period and some grew in size and complexity, such as appears to be the case at this settlement at Markshall Old Heath, more recently known as Harford Farm. Iron Age and Romano-British rural settlements are often situated in areas which are now under arable cultivation. As a result, although some survive as earthworks, many have been recorded as cropmarks and soilmarks from aerial photographs.

Cropmarks at Harford Farm were recorded by aerial photography (AP) in 1929 by Gilbert Insall and H Frederick Low. Early evidence indicated the presence of Bronze Age ring ditches and rectangular enclosures and linear features with potential connection to the Roman town of Venta Icenorum (NHER 9786) located approximately 800m to the south-east. In 1934 Roy Rainbird Clarke published ‘Notes on the archaeology of Markshall’, including a map showing ‘Principal crop-markings inserted from air-photographs, 1928–1933’. By 1935 the sites were described by R Clarke as ‘numerous circles and rectangular enclosures’, and it was recognized that they may be the remains of ‘tumuli’. Trial excavations were carried out in 1938 by T Wake on behalf of the Norfolk Research Committee (unpublished). The sites at Harford Farm were scheduled in 1950 as part of a larger group of ‘Sites discovered by air photography at Markshall’. The sites at Harford Farm are recorded in the scheduling file as ‘S.W. of Chapel Hill. Circular and rectangular crop markings show in air photos taken in 1933. One Circle was excavated by T. Wake in 1938.’

Targeted areas east and south-east of Harford Farm were excavated between 1989 and 1992 in advance of the construction of the Norwich Southern Bypass (A47) (Ashwin and Bates 2000). This excavation work (HER 9794) recorded five Bronze Age barrows, part of a more extensive barrow cemetery (NHER 52280), an area of Middle Iron Age occupation, Late Iron Age enclosures, and a Saxon inhumation cemetery dated to the C7 and C8 AD. Whilst all graves were fully excavated, only between 10 and 20 per cent of the ring ditches were excavated. A key finding of the excavations was that all five barrows ‘had been heavily damaged by ploughing, no trace remaining of any of their upstanding earthworks’. Further research was carried out in 2009 using aerial photography as part of the Norwich Growth Point section of the National Mapping Programme (NMP) project (Bales et al 2010).

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS: The crop marks at Harford Farm, centred around grid reference TG 2248 0427, represent multiple periods of ritual activity and settlement including the remains of a barrow cemetery of late Neolithic or Bronze Age date (NHER 52280, containing NHERs 52284, 52286 and 52288), Iron Age round houses and associated structures (NHER 52314, 52277 and 52279), a group of square-ditched funerary monuments of later Iron Age or Roman date (NHER 52289), several phases of enclosures and fields of later prehistoric to Roman date (NHERs 52278 and 52292), and an Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemetery.

The site is located on a hilltop at around 35m AOD, overlooking the River Yare to the north and River Tas to the east and south-east. It forms part of a wider group of ceremonial and funerary monuments focused on the confluence of the Rivers Tas and Yare, including a scheduled barrow cemetery north of Markshall Farm (NHLE 1495428), a scheduled henge-like monument and D-shaped enclosure west of Twins Farm (NHLE 1002887) and a henge at Arminghall (NHLE 1003985), located around 1km and 2km to the north-east respectively.

DESCRIPTION: The presence of a Bronze Age barrow cemetery (NHER 52280) at Harford Farm is well recorded from aerial photographic evidence and excavation prior to the construction of the Southern Bypass (A47) in the 1990s. The cemetery is centred around grid reference TG 2242 0428 and consists of at least six barrows, five of which have been excavated, and a further four possible examples identified from aerial photography. At the north end of the barrow cemetery, an isolated barrow (NHER 52281 - excavated in 1990) located at TG 2244 0442, sits on the northern edge of the hilltop overlooking the Yare. Around 120m to the south, the largest barrow (NHER 52282 - excavated in 1938 and 1990) sits near the central point of the cemetery. A group of three other barrows (NHERs 52283, 52284 and 52285 - excavated in 1990) cluster around this point. Another barrow is located just to the south-east of this cluster (NHER 52286 - not excavated), positioned to form a linear arrangement of three large barrows. Although central graves were indicated within three or four of the ring ditches, any secondary or shallower graves appear to have been destroyed by the plough. The barrow cemetery exhibits a broad range of barrow construction types, with two monuments being directly comparable and the group including ‘bowl’, ‘bell’ and ‘disc’ type barrows.

The remains of a round barrow centred at TG 2245 0422 (NHER 52284) were partially excavated in 1990 in advance of construction of the A47 Southern Bypass (identified as ring ditch ‘1022’ in the excavation report). The barrow formed part of the main focus of the cemetery situated on the hilltop overlooking the River Tas to the south-east. During the Anglo-Saxon period this barrow became the focus of an inhumation cemetery (NHER 9794). This ring-ditch was recorded as a penannular feature with a diameter of up to 29m, described as an irregular octagon with rounded corners, and a causeway in the south filled by three intercutting elongated pits. The ditch as excavated survived to a depth of up to 1.7m below the stripped surface and would have produced sufficient upcast to erect a substantial mound. At the time of excavation, no trace of this earthwork survived. The 2010 National Mapping Programme (NMP) project recorded a small square enclosure within the south-eastern part of the ring-ditch that was interpreted as a probable Late Iron Age or Romano-British mortuary feature. No evidence of this was visible during the excavation but similar features were encountered further north (and tentatively dated to the Roman period) so it is not impossible such a feature had been entirely truncated, along with the remainder of the mound. Several Anglo-Saxon graves were grouped around the east and west sides of the barrow, many of which truncated the infilled ditch. A single burial more than 1.5m inside the ring-ditch had been heavily truncated, showing it had been cut into an upstanding earthwork originally at a higher level than the other surrounding graves. A central feature, originally considered to be a grave pit, visible on the aerial mapping, turned out to be three intercutting features, sited 2m to the east of the ring-ditch's true centre. The western side of the ring-ditch was crossed by a (probably Middle) Iron Age ditch, while a field ditch of a later phase than the Anglo-Saxon graves skirted its eastern side. Together these features demonstrate that the ring-ditch was entirely filled in by the Iron Age (consistent with the observation of rapid infilling for several of the excavated ring-ditches) but the barrow itself remained a visible landscape feature into the medieval period. 

The cropmarks and soilmarks of a Bronze Age round barrow centred at TG 2257 0418 (NHER 52286) measures around 26m in diameter with the partial cropmark remains of an external ring ditch with a diameter of around 32m. In the centre is what appears to be a large pit cut into the mound material, possibly a large secondary grave or robber cut, measuring around 4.5m by 2.5m. The barrow is located just outside of the Southern Bypass excavation area and is positioned on the south-eastern edge of the cemetery, just below the summit of the hilltop overlooking the River Tas to the south-east. This barrow and two larger disc barrows (NHER 52282 and 52285) form a linear arrangement within the cemetery group, extending from south-east to north-west; this alignment appears to have been the dominant alignment utilised in the construction of the late Bronze Age and/or Iron Age houses and boundaries at the site (NHER 52292). The barrow is also skirted by a later ditch on its north-western edge, orientated north-east to south-west, while the NMP project also recorded a north-south feature on its east side; both features appear to respect the monument. 

The Harford Farm excavation area also found evidence of an Iron Age settlement including: the crop marks of a ring ditch centred at TG 2245 0432, immediately north of the A47, proven by excavation to be an Iron Age round house (NHER 52279); the crop marks of a round house of probable Iron Age date (NHER 52277) centred at TG 2248 0438 (outside the scheduled area); and the crop marks of ring ditches and fragmentary ditches (NHER 52314), centred around TG 2248 0425, immediately south of the A47.
The crop marks of a group of square ditched enclosures (NHER 52289), centred around TG 2244 0431, are thought to have had a funerary function dating to the later Iron Age or Roman period. Excavation recorded a total of six square-ditched enclosures, all positioned in a north-south alignment, and the sides of the enclosures aligned east to west or north to south. No evidence of central burials or cremations was recovered. Evidence of an inner bank or rampart was found at all but two of the excavated enclosures.
The construction of the Southern Bypass (A47) was thought to have removed most of one of the ring ditches (HER 52282) and two of the square enclosures (HER 52289) but interpretation of later aerial photographs demonstrates that the features do survive, at least in part, and unexcavated portions of the ring ditches are likely to remain intact.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING: The scheduled area is marked on the attached map and includes a 5m buffer zone where possible, which is considered necessary for the support and preservation of the monument.

EXCLUSIONS: The scheduling excludes the Southern Bypass (A47) and its embankments, any fencing, road and track surfaces, electricity poles, hard standing, and farmyard structures, although the ground beneath all these features is included.

Sources

Books and journals
Clarke, R, Notes on the archaeology of Markshall in Norfolk Archaeology, Vol. 25, (1934), 354-67
Ashwin, T, Bates, S, Excavations on the Norwich Southern Bypass, 1989–91. Part I: excavations at Bixley, Caistor St Edmund, Trowse, Cringleford and Little Melton in East Anglian Archaeology, (2000), 91

Websites
Norfolk Heritage Explorer, ‘NHER Number 9794, ‘Prehistoric barrow cemetery, Middle-Late Iron Age occupation site, and Saxon inhumation cemetery, Harford Farm’,, accessed 04 November 2025 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF9794
Norfolk Heritage Explorer, ‘NHER Number 52324, Multi-period cropmarks within the area of Harford Farm’, accessed 04 November 2025 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF59228
Norfolk Heritage Explorer, ‘NHER Number 52284, Site of a Bronze Age barrow’, accessed 04 November 2025 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF59297
Norfolk Heritage Explorer, ‘NHER Number 52286, Site of a Bronze Age barrow’, accessed 04 November 2025 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF59295
Norfolk Heritage Explorer, ‘NHER Number 52288, Cropmarks of a possible small oval barrow, potentially of Bronze Age date’, accessed 04 November 2025 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF59222
Norfolk Heritage Explorer, ‘NHER Number 52280, ‘Harford Farm barrow cemetery’, accessed 04 November 2025 from https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/map-record?UID=MNF59293&BBOX=622229,304160,622597,304444&CRS=EPSG:27700&count=1&ck_MON1=true&ck_MON=false

Other
Bales, E, Cattermole, A and Horlock, S, The Archaeology of Norwich ‘Growth Point’ and Environs: results of the Norwich Growth Point National Mapping Programme (NMP) Project. English Heritage Research Report 115/2010 (2010)

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