Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located towards the eastern side of
Salthouse Heath, within a dispersed round barrow cemetery which extends over
an area of c.1.3 sq km. The barrow stands on a shelf of level ground on a
south east facing slope, and is visible as an earthen mound measuring c.1m in
height and covering a circular area c.21m in diameter. The mound is thought
to be encircled by a ditch c.3m wide, similar to ditches which can still be
seen around other barrows in the area. This has become completely infilled
and is no longer visible on the ground surface but will survive as a buried
feature. The estimated overall diameter of the barrow is therefore 27m.

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.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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 260m NNW of Lowes Farm survives well and will retain
archaeological information concerning its construction and the manner and
duration of its use. Evidence for the local environment during that period is
likely to be preserved also, in soils buried beneath the mound. The barrow
is a component of the largest barrow cemetery in Norfolk, and has additional
interest in that context. Limited investigations of some of the other barrows
in the group have shown that the cemetery developed over several centuries and
includes a considerable diversity in the forms and rites of burial. The
evidence contained in the barrows as a group therefore has a wider importance
for the study of the character and development of the prehistoric population
of the area.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Chester, G J, 'Norfolk Archaeology' in Account of the Discovery of Ancient British Remains near Cromer, , Vol. 5, (1859), 263-267
Lawson, A J, Martin, A E, Priddy, D, 'East Anglian Archaeol' in The Barrows of East Anglia, , Vol. 12, (1981), Pl.XI

Source: Historic England