Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow which is located to the west of the track
known as Pilgrims' Walk, on a slight ridge above a gentle south facing slope
overlooking the valley of the Little Ouse River towards the western side of
the Breckland region.

The barrow is visible as an earthen mound standing to a height of c.1.8m and
covering a circular area c.28m in diameter. A slight depression in the surface
on the western side probably marks the site of an investigation by Lord
Rosehill in 1871, when cremation burials were found. The mound is thought to
be encircled by a ditch, c.3m wide, from which earth was quarried during
construction of the barrow, and although this has now become completely
infilled and is no longer visible on the surface, it will survive as a buried
feature.

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 770m north west of Field Barn survives well, and although the
mound is thought to have been the subject of an antiquarian investigation in
the past, the area of disturbance is small in relation to the monument as a
whole, which will retain archaeological information concerning the
construction of the barrow, the manner and duration of its use and the local
environment at that time. Evidence for land use predating its construction is
also likely be preserved in soils buried beneath the mound. Another bowl
barrow with a pond barrow adjacent lies c.85m to the south west of the
monument, and the three are among a group of five barrows aligned on a north
east-south west axis over a distance of 1km. As a group these have additional
interest in relation to the prehistoric flint mines known as Grimes Graves,
which lie c.4km to the south east, and together with other barrows preserved
in this part of the Breckland region, provide evidence for the study of the
general character and development of prehistoric settlement in the area.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
'Norfolk Archaeology' in Norfolk Archaeology, , Vol. 7, (1872), 372
Other
Clarke, R R, 4995: Breckland; Weeting with Broomhill, (1935)

Source: Historic England