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Record Details

NHER Number:10597
Type of record:Monument
Name:Broome Heath Neolithic Long Barrow

Summary

A Neolithic burial mound or long barrow, about 50m long and 25m wide. Human remains were found in the 19th century, but these were probably a later insertion. Neolithic flints and pottery fragments have been found over the years, often being excavated by rabbits.
The barrow, as well as being used for burial, may also have had ceremonial uses.

Images

  • Neolithic long barrow on Broome Heath looking north. Note the figure standing beside the barrow for scale © Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service

Location

Grid Reference:TM 3446 9130
Map Sheet:TM39SW
Parish:DITCHINGHAM, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Neolithic long barrow
1858. Inhumation found possibly in this barrow.
1935. Neolithic pottery sherds found.
1953. Neolithic pottery sherds and flints found (S14, S15, S16, S17 and S18).
1966. Neolithic pottery sherds and flints found (S19, S20, S21 and S22).
1974. Worked flint found, (S23).
1977. Neolithic pottery found (S24).
See full details, aerial photographs, schedule (S1) in file.
E. Rose (NLA), 14 February 1991.

January 1995. Earthwork Survey.
Survey by RCHME.
See report (S3) for details.
P. Watkins (HES), 10 March 2015.

Summer 1999.
Prehistoric flint flakes.
Prehistoric probably Iron Age pottery.
See file.
K. Hinds (NLA), 17 February 2000.

See also NHER 10624 and 10611.
J.Allen (NLA), 28 Sept 2000.

August 2000. Visit.
Completely covered in bracken, with some rabbit disturbance.
H. Paterson (A&E), 13 September 2000.

February 2001.
Management statement (S2) signed 10 February 2001.
H. Paterson (A&E), 14 February 2001.

July 2006. Norfolk NMP
An earthwork of a Neolithic long barrow is visible on aerial photographs (S4-S13). The grid reference for this earthwork has been amended from TM 3449 9133 to TM 3448 9131. A sub-oval earthwork mound is present. It measures 46m long by 24m wide and lies on a southwest to northeast axis. A linear earthwork, up to 5m wide and 43m long extends to its southwest, forming a ‘tail’ to the barrow. Although traces of a shallow surrounding ditch have been noted during ground survey (S3) it is not visible on the aerial photographs. This Neolithic long barrow is regarded as an outlier of the Chiltern / East Anglia distribution (S3). It is located on Broome Heath lying at approximately 5m OD on the gravel terrace of the River Waveney. Earthworks of Bronze Age round barrows (NHER 10611, 10624) are present 25m to the east of the long barrow and 270m to its south. A Neolithic enclosure earthwork also lies to its south (NHER 10602). An earthwork of another possible long barrow of very small size was located 50m to the northeast of the mound (NHER 43777). This second possible long barrow lay on a slightly different alignment and had been destroyed by quarrying by 1967 (S13). A group of World War Two weapons pits (NHER 43776) cut across the ‘tail’ of the main long barrow. By 1967 the adjacent quarrying had extended up to the northeastern edge of the long barrow mound and vehicle tracks were visible crossing the lower part of its slopes (S13). This long barrow is protected as a Scheduled Monument (S1).
J. Albone (NMP), 18 July 2006

Monument Types

  • LONG BARROW (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • INHUMATION (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • INHUMATION (Early Saxon - 410 AD to 650 AD)
  • RABBIT WARREN (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • TRENCH (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

  • FLAKE (Lower Palaeolithic to Late Iron Age - 500000 BC to 42 AD)
  • LITHIC IMPLEMENT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • POT (Late Prehistoric - 4000 BC to 42 AD)
  • POT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
  • HUMAN REMAINS (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
  • POT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
  • UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT (Early Saxon - 411 AD to 650 AD)

Protected Status

  • Scheduled Monument
  • SHINE

Sources and further reading

---Photograph: HP 3, CYD 8.
---Aerial Photograph: Aerofilms 14071 48.
---Serial: 1974. Council for British Archaeology Group 7 Bulletin of Archaeological Discoveries for 1974. No 21. p 3.
---Designation: [unknown]. Ancient Monuments Form. SAM Record. DNF50.
---Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TM 39 SW 5; TM 39 SW 6 [3].
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1961. [Articles and letters to the editor regarding a planning application of a footpath which would affect two barrows].
---Newspaper Article: 1961. Eastern Daily Press. 22 August.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1961. [unknown]. 29 September.
---Article in Serial: Healy, F. 1984. Recent Finds of Neolithic Bowl Pottery in Norfolk. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XXXIX Pt I pp 65-82.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Neolithic. Ditchingham.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Early Saxon. Ditchingham.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Collection: Norfolk Historic Environment Record Staff. 1975-[2000]. HER Record Notes. Norfolk Historic Environment Service.
---Photograph: [Unknown]. 1935. Photograph of the Ditchingham Long Barrow. HES Prints. print - black and white.
<S1>Designation: English Heritage. Scheduling Report.
<S2>Unpublished Document: H. Paterson (A&E), MPP. Section 17 Management Agreement.
<S3>Unpublished Contractor Report: Barber, M. and Oswald, A. 1995. An Enclosure on Broome Heath, Ditchingham, Norfolk: Enclosure and Industry in the Neolithic. Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. pp 4-8.
<S4>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1945. RAF 106G/UK/930 4092-3 16-OCT-1945 (NHER TM 3392A / TM 3491A).
<S5>Vertical Aerial Photograph: RAF. 1946. RAF 106G/UK/1716 3093-4 06-SEP-1946 (NMR).
<S6>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1981. NHER TM 3491E-G (NLA 117/ARJ10-2) 17-AUG-1981.
<S7>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1983. NHER TM 3491H-J (NLA 135/ADT25-6) 21-JUL-1983.
<S8>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1984. NHER TM 3491K-M (NLA 150/AXC20-2) 27-AUG-1984.
<S9>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1984. NHER TM 3491N-R (NLA 150/AXE7-10) 27-AUG-1984.
<S10>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1985. NHER TM 3491S-U (NLA 160/AYH11-3) 26-MAR-1985.
<S11>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1989. NHER TM 3491W-X (NLA 216/DPU7-9) 21-FEB-1989.
<S12>Oblique Aerial Photograph: Aerofilms. NHER TM 3491AA (Aerofilms/CM703).
<S13>Vertical Aerial Photograph: Ordnance Survey. 1967. OS/67056 157-8 24-APR-1967 (NMR).
<S14>Illustration: Unknown. 1953. Drawings of Neolithic pottery fragments.. Film. 1:1.
<S15>Illustration: Unknown. 1953. Drawing of a Neolothic pottery fragment.. Film. 1:1.
<S16>Illustration: Unknown. 1953. Drawing of Neolithic pottery fragment.. Film. 1:1.
<S17>Illustration: Unknown. 1953. Drawing of a Neolithic pottery fragment.. Film. 1:1.
<S18>Illustration: Unknown. 1953. Drawing of a Neolithic pottery fragment.. Film. 1:1.
<S19>Illustration: Unknown. 1966. Drawing of a Neolithic pottery fragment.. Film. 1:1.
<S20>Illustration: Unknown. 1966. Drawing of a Neolithic pottery fragment.. Film. 1:1.
<S21>Illustration: Unknown. 1966. Drawing of a Neolithic pottery fragment.. Film. 1:1.
<S22>Illustration: Unknown. 1966. Drawing of a Neolithic pottery fragment.. Film. 1:1.
<S23>Illustration: Unknown. 1974. Drawing of a Neolithic flint fragment.. Film. 1:1.
<S24>Illustration: Unknown. 1977. Drawing of a Neolithic pottery fragment.. Card. 1:1.

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