Record Details

NHER Number:5051
Type of record:Monument
Name:Site of Bronze Age round barrow near Hopton House

Summary

This Bronze Age round barrow was excavated in 1849. Inside it was a crouched inhumation, probably of a man. Beside the body was found a dagger and a spearhead. The skeleton wore a gold breast plate, a string of amber beads and a gold bracelet. The remains of three sheet gold boxes were also recovered. The barrow was completely excavated and can no longer be seen. It was one of a group of round barrows (NHER 5052, 5053, 5054, 5055, 5056 and 5057) that form a Bronze Age barrow cemetery near Hopton House. This is the only known example of a rich Wessex Culture burial in East Anglia.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TL 8691 9903
Map Sheet:TL89NE
Parish:LITTLE CRESSINGHAM, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

Site of tumulus.
Wessex burial excavated 1849.
For full details see file.
E. Rose (NAU), 29 June 1982.

No distinct mound now remains.
A.J. Lawson (NAU), 1975.

October 2003. Visit.
Under arable cultivation. No visible earthwork.
H. Paterson (A&E), 19 February 2004.

(S1) records a ring of chalky material still visible in the ploughsoil. This barrow is the sole example of a rich Wessex Culture burial in East Anglia.
See (S1).
M. Dennis (NLA), 4 May 2006.

Monument Types

  • CROUCHED INHUMATION (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • INHUMATION (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • ROUND BARROW (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)

Associated Finds

  • BEAD (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • BOX (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • DAGGER (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • HUMAN REMAINS (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • KNIFE (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)

Protected Status

  • Scheduled Monument

Sources and further reading

---Photograph: HP 30, BVP 9-13.
---Aerial Photograph: TL8698B, TL8699D.
---Designation: [unknown]. Ancient Monuments Form. SAM Record. DNF241.
---Correspondence: Barton, T.. 1849. Letter reporting excavation of Little Cressingham barrow.. 5 July 1849.
---Designation: English Heritage. Scheduling Report.
---Photograph: NCC Find Identification and Recording Service. c. 1975-2000. HES Find Polaroid Collection. HES Find Polaroid Collection. polaroid. black and white.
---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TL 89 NE 4.
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Unpublished Document: Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England. Ancient Monuments Record Form.
---Article in Serial: Barton, T. 1852. Antiquities Discovered at Little Cressingham, Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol III pp 1-2.
---Illustration: Sandys. 1849?. Watercolours of finds from Little Cressingham Barrow..
---Photograph: Ashley, H.. CM840 Little Cressingham Barrow finds..
---Monograph: Lawson, A. J., Martin, E., Priddy, D. and Taylor, A. 1981. The Barrows of East Anglia. East Anglian Archaeology. No 12.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Bronze Age. Cressingham (Little) [5].
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Slide: Various. Slide.
---Collection: Norfolk Historic Environment Record Staff. 1975-[2000]. HER Record Notes. Norfolk Historic Environment Service.
<S1>Article in Serial: Davison, A. 1994. The Field Archaeology of Bodney and the Stanta Extension. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLII Pt I pp 57-79. p 59.

Related records

5056Related to: Bell Hill Bronze Age round barrow (Monument)
5057Related to: Bronze Age round barrow and Mesolithic and Mesolithic/Neolithic worked flints, near Hopton House (Monument)
5054Related to: Bronze Age round barrow near Hopton House (Monument)
5055Related to: Bronze Age round barrow near Hopton House (Monument)
5053Related to: Site of Bronze Age round barrow (Monument)
5052Related to: Site of possible Bronze Age ring ditch east of Hopton Farm (Monument)

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