Record Details
| NHER Number: | 38671 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Earthwork of Bronze Age ring barrow |
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Summary
A possible ring barrow of Bronze Age date is visible as an earthwork on 1946 aerial photographs of Roughton Heath. The heath is notable for its remains of Bronze Age round barrows, a number of which survived as earthworks until the 19th and 20th century. Rowhow Hill (NHER 6737), a Bronze Age barrow which was the subject of an antiquarian excavation, lies 220m to the east, while two tumuli (NHER 6742 and 6743) are shown just to the south on the Ordnance Survey 1" to 1' map of 1838. The site described here, however, lies in an area used for military training in World War Two (NHER 38621) and could in fact be associated with this later site. Alternatively, it might form part of the probable iron extraction site immediately to its east (NHER 38672).
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 2176 3850 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG23NW |
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| Parish: | ROUGHTON, NORTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
June 2004, Norfolk NMP.
A possible ring barrow is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs (S1), centred at TG 2176 3850. The area is notable for its evidence of prehistoric ceremonial and funerary activity and a number of Bronze Age barrows have been identified in the vicinity. While it is possible that the site is associated with the military training area which occupied this part of the heath in World War Two (NHER 38621), the earthworks do not look fresh enough to be part of this activity. Alternatively, they might be associated with the probable iron ore extraction and/or smelting site immediately to the east (NHER 38672), but the earthworks of the possible barrow are less substantial than those of the extraction pits. The interpretation of the site as a Bronze Age ring barrow therefore seems plausible, although it should be treated with caution in the absence of corroborative evidence.
The site is visible as the earthwork of a sub-circular ring ditch measuring 21m long and 16.5m wide. The southern side of the ring ditch appears to be open; the break on its north side may be due the earthworks being masked by vegetation. An external bank is visible on the east side of the ring ditch. No internal mound is visible suggesting that, if the site is a Bronze Age barrow, it is either a ring barrow or any mound survives as an earthwork too small or too mutilated to be recognisable on aerial photographs.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 30 June 2004.
Monument Types
- BANK (EARTHWORK) (Unknown date)
- RING DITCH (Unknown date)
- BANK (EARTHWORK) (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
- RING BARROW? (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)
- RING DITCH (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| <S1> | Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1606 2146-7 27-JUN-1946 (NMR). |
Related records - none
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