NHER 7500 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Site of a Bronze Age barrow on Buxton Heath

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Summary

The site of a Bronze Age barrow is seen as a cropmark on aerial photographs. The barrow was excavated in 1798 by Rev. H. Crowe. A number of finds were recorded including Bronze Age pottery, burnt human bone, charred wood and fragments of Bronze Age copper alloy razor. A Roman ring in the Norwich Castle Museum is recorded as coming from a barrow on Buxton Heath. This may be a mistake or the ring may have been buried in the barrow in the Roman period. The barrow could not be seen in a ploughed field in the 1970s.

Protected Status/Designation

None recorded

Location

Map sheet	TG12SE
Civil Parish	HEVINGHAM, BROADLAND, NORFOLK

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Full Description

Barrow. South of 50 Acre Plantation, east of Wood Farm.
Marked on (S1), and as Dead Man's Grave on old estate maps.

1798.
Opened by Rev. H. Crowe.
Inverted urn covered small heap of charred bones; near them a few more bones all 2.7 to 3m (9 to 10 feet) from surface. Also three small urns and ten or twelve others, inverted and much charred wood and bones. One of vessels called rude lamp incense cup. NCM has fragments of Roman signet ring found in 'Roman urn' in a barrow on Buxton Common in 1798 according to old label. Probably a mistake - or Roman secondary in Bronze Age barrow? Also three fragments of ?class I or II bronze razor found in urn in this barrow.
R.R. Clarke (NCM).

1975.
No sign in ploughed field.
A.J. Lawson (NAU), 6 February 1975.

Original drawings by Crowe in (S2). (S3) records the barrows as on Buxton Common. Pottery illustrated in (S4). The ring is described in (S5).
E. Rose (NAU), 25 February 1986.

September 2006. Vertical Aerial Photograph.
2 round barrows can be seen on Google Earth imagery.
See (S6) for further details.
D. Lefeuvre (HES), 7 February 2011.

September 2021. Aylsham and Brampton Aerial Investigation and Mapping (AIM) Project.
The site of a Bronze Age barrow (see above) is seen as a cropmark on aerial photographs (S7-S8). The features consist of a double ring ditch which most likely relates to the site of the Bronze Age round barrow discussed above. The site of a further Bronze Age barrow (NHER 65603) has been recorded approximately 95m to the southeast. The monument polygon has been updated to the site of the northern ring ditch.
J. Powell (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 20 September 2021.

Associated Sources (16)

--- SNF4396 Article in Serial: [unknown]. Arch.. Vol XLIII, p 365. p 365.
--- SNF1540 Article in Serial: Clarke, W. G. 1913. Norfolk Barrows. The Antiquary. Vol XLIX pp 416-423. p 419.
--- SNF1141 Monograph: 1901. The Victoria History of Norfolk. The Victoria History of the Counties of England. Vol 1. p 275.
--- SNF6712 Monograph: Lawson, A. J., Martin, E., Priddy, D. and Taylor, A. 1981. The Barrows of East Anglia. East Anglian Archaeology. No 12.
--- SNF4862 Publication: Brongniart, A.. 1854. Thraite des Arts Ceramiques. 2nd ed. i p.486.
--- SNF6822 Publication: Longworth, I. H. 1984. Collared Urns: Of the Bronze Age in Great Britain and Ireland. Nos 933, 934.
--- SNF87258 Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Bronze Age. Hevingham.
--- SNF87260 Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Roman. Hevingham.
--- SNF57722 Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
--- SNF57204 Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TG 12 SE 13 [2].
<S1> SNF54099 Map: Ordnance Survey. 1838. First edition one inch map.
<S2> SNF54100 Publication: Society of Antiquaries of London.. Primeval Antiquities File. p 75.
<S3> SNF565 Serial: 1798. Arch.. VolXIII. vol.XIII p.404 pl.xxvi fi. p 404; Pl xxvi fi.
<S4> SNF4274 Documentary Source: Various. Drawings, engravings and etchings, including numerous portraits, maps, etc, collected by Dawson Turner to illustrate Blomefield's "History of Norfolk" 1810-1847. Add MS 23024-23052. Vol III; f.218 (Add MS 23026).
<S5> SNF6376 Monograph: Henig. British Archaeological Report 2nd ed.. British Archaeological Report. Vol 8, No 780.
<S6> SNF71335 Vertical Aerial Photograph: Google Earth. ? - present. Google Earth Orthophotographs. https://earth.google.com/web. 10-SEP-2006 Accessed 07-FEB-2011.

Site and Feature Types and Periods (6)

Object Types (5)

HUMAN REMAINS (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
POT (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
RAZOR (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
FINGER RING (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
POT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)