Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located on ground which slopes to the
north west and is situated towards the north west corner of a field which was
formerly part of Barnham Heath. The barrow is visible as an earthen mound
which stands to a height of about 0.6m and covers a roughly circular area
measuring about 38m in diameter. In 1955 A R Edwardson excavated a trench
through the mound and found some post holes which were `slightly off centre'.
It is thought that the mound is encircled by a ditch with an estimated width
of 3m, from which earth was quarried during the construction of the barrow.
The mound has been spread by cultivation, and it is thought that the buried
ditch will survive beneath the mound.

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.

Although the bowl barrow 720m north east of East Farm has been reduced in
height and spread by ploughing, the base of the mound, the soils buried
beneath the mound and the fill of the buried ditch surrounding it will retain
archaeological information concerning its construction and the manner and
duration of its use, in addition to the evidence for a timber structure
recorded in the limited investigation of the mound by A R Edwardson. Evidence
for the local environment is also likely to be preserved in these deposits.
The proximity of this barrow to a number of other barrows in this part of the
Breckland region gives 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

Other
Archive stored at SAU, Brown, B, (1955)
BNH 027, Sussams, K, (1996)

Source: Historic England