Details

The monument is in two separate areas and includes three bowl barrows and a
ring ditch situated on a gentle south west facing slope, to the east of the
Icknield Way path. The ring ditch is sited in the parish of Ingham and the
most easterly bowl barrow is sited in the parish of Little Livermere whilst
the two most westerly bowl barrows are sited on the junction of the parishes
of Ingham and Little Livermere.

The first area includes the three bowl barrows, the most northerly of which is
visible as a large earthen mound, which stands to a height of about 1.5m and
covers a circular area about 25m in diameter. A depression approximately 5m
square and 0.5m deep at the centre of the mound is thought to be the result of
an excavation by Canon Greenwell in 1868. He cut a number of trenches through
the barrow and recovered six cremation burials from the sand constructed
mound, including one in an urn and another which had been crudely overlain
with rough flints. The whole of the northern side of the mound, together with
parts of the west and south east sides, were left unexcavated to avoid the
disturbance of trees.

A second bowl barrow is situated approximately 25m to the south east of the
first. It is visible as a roughly circular mound, with a diameter of about 26m
and a height of about 1.8m. It is recorded that `some trenching' of the barrow
took place in the 1860s by friends of Hunter Rodwell, the then owner of Ampton
Hall.

A third bowl barrow stands approximately 60m to the south of the first barrow
and 40m to the south west of the second. It is visible as a circular mound,
about 30m in diameter and 1.5m in height. An irregular hollow on the surface
of the mound measures approximately 2m in diameter and 0.5m deep and may be
the result of investigations by Paley of Ampton Hall, of which no further
details are known.

It is thought that the three mounds are encircled by ditches from which earth
was quarried during the construction of the barrows, and although these have
now become infilled and are no longer visible, they will survive as buried
features below the ground surface.

The second area includes the fourth barrow located approximately 60m to the
west of the first. The ditch of this survives as a buried feature producing a
cropmark (areas of differential crop growth over buried archaeological
features), visible on aerial photographs, which defines a circular enclosure
30m in diameter known as a ring ditch, containing a central pit. The
protection includes a 5m margin for the support and preservation of the ring
ditch.

The three barrows and ring ditch are known to be the survivors of a larger
group of seven barrows. The other three were sited close to the surviving ring
ditch west of the A134 Bury St Edmunds to Thetford road in the parish of
Ingham and were levelled in the first quarter of the 19th century when the
heathland was enclosed. It is recorded that during the removal of soil from
the barrows an `urn of dark earth filled with bones' was recovered. Since that
time ploughing has caused further destruction to the remains of these barrows
and by 1976 they were no longer visible on aerial photographs. For this reason
they are not included in the scheduling.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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.

Although the three bowl barrows and ring ditch north east of Neville House
have undergone some disturbance by degrees of excavation and cultivation, the
monument as a whole will retain archaeological information concerning the
construction and the manner of the use of all four barrows and their
stratigraphic and chronological relationship to one another. In addition
limited excavation in the past has confirmed the date and function of the
monument. Evidence for the local environment in the prehistoric period will
also be preserved in the upstanding earthworks, in soils buried beneath the
mounds and in the fills of the surrounding ditches, which were not
investigated in the past, and also in the fill of the ditch and the central
pit within the ring ditch. The proximity of the barrows to a number of other
barrows in this part of the Breckland region give them additional interest.
Together these barrows give some evidence of the character, development and
density of the prehistoric population in this area.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Blomefield, F, An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, (1805), 1,3
Blomefield, F, An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, (1805), 1, 3
Blomefield, F, An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, (1805), 1,3
Greenfield, W, 'The Quarterly Journal of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology' in Examination of Suffolk Tumuli: The Seven Hills, Ampton., (1869), 19-20
Greenfield, W, 'The Quarterly Journal of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology' in Examination of Suffolk Tumuli: The Seven Hills, Ampton., (1869), 19-20
Greenfield, W, 'The Quarterly Journal of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology' in Examination of Suffolk Tumuli: The Seven Hills, Ampton., (1869), 19-20
Moss, G, 'Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology' in , , Vol. 31, (1968), 189
Other
OS AP 76/060/235, Ordnance Survey, (1976)
OS/76060 Frame 235, Ordnance Survey, (1976)
SMR, Seven Hills Barrow Group, (1989)

Source: Historic England