Details

The monument includes the large bowl barrow known as Black Hill, a second
bowl barrow which lies 50m to the south west of it and the archaeologically
sensitive ground between them. These stand in former heathland to the north
east of Troston village. Black Hill is visible as a large earthen mound, which
stands to a height of approximately 2.7m and covers a circular area about 33m
in diameter. It has steep sides on all but the south east side which slopes at
a more shallow angle. The mound is encircled by a ditch, from which the earth
was dug during the construction of the barrow. This has become infilled but
survives largely as a buried feature, and is marked on the north east side by
a slight hollow about 4m wide. The barrow therefore has a maximum overall
diameter of 41m.
The second smaller bowl barrow is visible as a roughly circular mound,
approximately 26m in diameter, standing on the north side to a maximum height
of 1m and shelving slightly to the south. Slight hollows, 3m wide, in the
ground surface immediately to the north of the mound mark the site of the
ditch which encircles the mound, and will survive elsewhere as a buried
feature. The barrow has a diameter of about 32m.
The surface of the trackway to the south and the rubble dump to the west of
the smaller barrow, together with the fencing and other structures of a
pheasant pen between the two barrows are excluded from the scheduling,
although the ground beneath these features is included.

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.

Black Hill bowl barrow and the smaller barrow adjacent to it survive well.
They will retain archaeological information concerning the construction and
the manner of the use of the barrows and their stratigraphic and chronological
relationship to one another. 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.
The ground between the barrows is likely to include other buried prehistoric
features which will contain additional information. The proximity of the
barrow to a number of other barrows in this part of the Breckland region give
it 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
The Victoria History of the County of Suffolk: Volume I, (1911), 628
Other
Field Observation, Fenton, P, (1997)
Site visit, Martin, E, (1986)

Source: Historic England