Record Details
| NHER Number: | 6011 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Bronze Age barrow, part of cemetery NHER 57422 |
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Summary
The remains of a Bronze Age round barrow, revealed by ploughing in 1953. Excavation discovered three human burials, one inhumed and two cremated, together with Bronze Age pottery. The bone remains of one of the cremations were still in a complete pottery vessel. Also found were a shale ring and a small bronze awl. The round barrow is visible on aerial photographs as a cropmark of a ring ditch and possible internal mound as late as 2007, and has been recognised as part of a larger barrow cemetery NHER 57422.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TL 9755 8707 |
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| Map Sheet: | TL98NE |
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| Parish: | BRIDGHAM, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
January 1953. At Sandpit Hill.
Ploughing revealed remains of destroyed barrow 19m (62ft) in diameter. With chalk bank 1m (3ft) wide surrounding area of dark soil.
Excavation by R.R. Clarke (NCM) and museum staff.
Inhumation I. Skull fragments; sherd of Beaker pottery and possibly Iron Age sherds. Just north of centre.
Cremation I. No associations but 1.2m (4ft) to the northeast were found a shale ring and Bronze Age sherds. ?Food vessel Culture or Urn Culture.
Cremation II (exact site not recorded). Small complete Middle Bronze Age pot 9.5cm (3 3/4') high with cremated bones and bronze awl 34mm long. (S3).
Human skeletal remains report by C.P.B. Wells. Young adult female and newborn baby. See (S1).
R.R. Clarke (NCM).
12 February 1976.
Chalky spread defines limit of mound 36m diam, 35cm high in cultivated stubble.
A. J. Lawson (NAU).
Collared Urn sheet in file.
E. Rose.
Publication in (S2) suggests Iron Age sherds could be Early Saxon.
E. Rose (NAU) 7 July 1986.
August 2012. Norfolk NMP.
The round barrow described above is visible on aerial photographs as a cropmark of a ring ditch and possible internal mound as late as 2007 (S4-S6).
It is centred on TL 9755 2870. The ditch itself measures approximately 30m in external diameter, 25m internally. There is a possible berm measuring between approximately 2 and 7m in width, between ring ditch and internal mound, which measures approximately 12m in diameter, although it should be noted that all these features are only partly visible on the available aerial photographs.
It is also clear that this round barrow forms part of a larger barrow cemetery (NHER 57422) which comprises five round barrows in total, all of which are only visible together on photography from one year alone (S6).
E. Bales (NMP), 28 August 2012.
Monument Types
- CREMATION (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- MOUND (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- RING DITCH (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- ROUND BARROW (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- INHUMATION (Beaker - 2300 BC to 1700 BC)
Associated Finds
- AWL (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- HUMAN REMAINS (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- POT (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- POT (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- RING (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- POT (Beaker - 2300 BC to 1700 BC)
- POT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
- POT (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)
Protected Status
Sources and further reading
| --- | Publication: Clarke, D. L. 1970. Beaker Pottery of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol 2. No 512. |
| --- | Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TL 98 NE 3 [2]. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| --- | Publication: Longworth, I. H. 1984. Collared Urns: Of the Bronze Age in Great Britain and Ireland. No 932. |
| --- | Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Bronze Age. Bridgham. |
| --- | Article in Serial: Clarke, R. R. 1954. Norwich Museum Excavations 1953. Norfolk Research Committee Bulletin. Series 1 No 6 (for 1953) p 2. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| <S1> | Article in Serial: Clarke, R. R. 1957. Archaeological Discoveries in Norfolk 1949-54. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XXXI Pt IV pp 395-416. p 397. |
| <S2> | Article in Monograph: Lawson, A. J. and Tomalin, D. J. 1986. Notes on Three Norfolk Barrow Excavations at Bridgham, Cockley Cley and Old Hunstanton with a Note on a Barrow Excavation at Garboldisham. Barrow Excavations in Norfolk, 1950-82. East Anglian Archaeology. Lawson, A. J. et al.. No 29 pp 104-113. pp 104-106. |
| <S3> | Archive: British Museum. 1913 onwards. Bronze Age Index. |
| <S4> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: Google Earth. ? - present. Google Earth Orthophotographs. https://earth.google.com/web. XX-XXX-1999 Accessed 27-SEP-2012. |
| <S5> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: Google Earth. ? - present. Google Earth Orthophotographs. https://earth.google.com/web. 02-JUL-2006 Accessed 27-SEP-2012. |
| <S6> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: Google Earth. ? - present. Google Earth Orthophotographs. https://earth.google.com/web. 03-AUG-2007 Accessed 27-SEP-2012. |
Related records
| 57422 | Part of: Sandpit Hill possible Bronze Age Barrow cemetery (Monument) |
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