Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a natural knoll on top of a
north east-south west ridge towards the western side of the Breckland region
and the Fen edge. The barrow is visible as an earthen mound, standing to a
height of c.2.4m and covering a circular area c.25m in diameter. The mound is
encircled by a ditch from which earth was quarried during construction of the
barrow. This has become largely infilled but survives as a buried feature
marked by a depression up to 5m wide and c.0.3m deep in the ground surface.

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 760m west of Pilgrims' Walk survives well and there is no
evidence that it has suffered damage other than the limited disturbance caused
by the planting of trees. The mound and deposits beneath it and in the fill of
the ditch 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 earlier land use is also likely to be preserved in
soils buried beneath the mound. The monument is the southernmost of five
barrows grouped in a north east-south west alignment over a distance of 1km,
the nearest of the five being c.162m to the north east. As a group these have
additional interest in relation to the prehistoric flint mines of 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