Record Details

NHER Number:5056
Type of record:Monument
Name:Bell Hill Bronze Age round barrow

Summary

Earthworks of an enormous Bronze Age round barrow can be seen on aerial photographs and on the ground. The mound is around 65m in diameter and at least 4m high. Legend has it that the bells from Little Cressingham church are buried within the barrow. It is one of a group of round barrows (NHER 5051, 5052, 5053, 5054, 5055 and 5057) that form a Bronze Age barrow cemetery near Hopton House.

Images

  • Bell Hill Bronze Age round barrow, Little Cressingham  © Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service

Location

Grid Reference:TL 8610 9861
Map Sheet:TL89NE
Parish:LITTLE CRESSINGHAM, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

Bell Hill.
Enormous round barrow 61m (200 feet) diameter 4.5m (15 feet) high.
R.R. Clarke (NCM).

Size difficult to assess due to erosion of edges by ploughing especially on west side, around 65m diameter, 4m high with large depression in centre and tree stumps on centre. Depression due to uprooting trees/dig? Preservation order 1976.
Tradition states that Little Cressingham church bells are buried in it.
See (S1).
A.J. Lawson (NAU), March 1976.

Flint flake found here by A.J. Lawson (NAU).
E. Rose (NAU).

September 1983 and December 1987.
No change from survey on either visit. In good order, well beyond ploughed area.
J. Wymer (NAU), December 1987.

7 August 1996. NLA air photography.
Round barrow still visible.
S. Massey (NLA), 8 November 2001.

Monument Types

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

Associated Finds

  • FLAKE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)

Protected Status

  • Scheduled Monument
  • SHINE

Sources and further reading

---Documentary Source: Watson, A. Q. 1940. Notebook belonging to A.Q. Watson. Norfolk Museums Service.
---Photograph: HP 27, BZP 2, CXZ 12, EMC 6.
---Aerial Photograph: RESTRICTED: TL8698N and TL8598A, TL8698E, H, J, L, M, T.
---Designation: [unknown]. Ancient Monuments Form. SAM Record. DNF241.
---Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1996. TL 8698Z - AA.
---Designation: Corbishley, M.. 1983. AM107.
---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.
---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TL 89 NE 5 [3].
---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---Unpublished Document: Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England.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.
---Photograph: Grinsell, L.V.. BZP TWO Bell Hill round barrow..
---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 - Neolithic. Cressingham (Little).
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Bronze Age. Cressingham (Little).
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Slide: Various. Slide.
<S1>Publication: Grinsell. 1953. Ancient Burial Mounds. p.19,112,974.

Related records

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)
5051Related to: Site of Bronze Age round barrow near Hopton House (Monument)
5052Related to: Site of possible Bronze Age ring ditch east of Hopton Farm (Monument)

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