Details

The monument is located approximately 700m to the south of the Icklingham
barrow cemetery and includes a bowl barrow. It is visible as a large earthen
mound which stands to a height of about 1.2m, and covers a roughly circular
area with a maximum diameter of about 32m. It is thought that the mound is
encircled by a ditch from which earth was quarried during the construction of
the barrow. Although this has now become completely infilled and is no longer
visible, it will survive as a buried feature below the ground surface.

The group of five bowl barrows forming the Icklingham barrow cemetery forms
the subject of a separate scheduling.

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 510m south east of Bernersfield Farm survives well and will
retain archaeological information concerning its construction and the manner
and duration of its use. Evidence for the local environment prior to and
during that time will also be preserved in soils buried beneath the mound and
in the fills of the buried ditch. The proximity of this barrow to a number of
other barrows in this part of the Breckland region, in particular the
Icklingham barrow cemetery, 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