Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, prominently sited on a ridge overlooking
the valley of the Little Ouse River which runs 310m to the north. The barrow
is visible as an earthen mound standing to a height of c.1m and covering a
circular area c.23m in diameter. The mound is encircled by a ditch c.3m in
width from which earth was quarried during the construction of the barrow.
This has become almost completely infilled and survives largely as a buried
feature, although it can be traced as a very slight hollow in the ground
surface.

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 380m south west of Santon House survives well and the mound
and deposits beneath it will retain archaeological information concerning its
construction, the manner and duration of its use and the local environment at
that time. Evidence for earlier land use is also likely to be preserved in
soils buried beneath the mound. The monument has additional interest in
relation to the prehistoric flint mines of Grimes Graves, which lie 3km to the
north east, and, together with other barrows preserved in this part of the
Breckland region, provides evidence for the study of the general character and
development of prehistoric settlement in the area.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Bamford, H, (1996)
STN 006 Santon Downham; Forest Heath, (1987)

Source: Historic England