Scheduled Ancient Monument: THREE BOWL BARROWS AND A RING DITCH 850M AND 750M NORTH EAST OF NEVILLE HOUSE FARM (31104-01)

The monument is in two separate areas and includes three bowl barrows and a ring ditch situated on a gentle south west facing slope, to the east of the Icknield Way path. The ring ditch is sited in the parish of Ingham and the most easterly bowl barrow is sited in the parish of Little Livermere whilst the two most westerly bowl barrows are sited on the junction of the parishes of Ingham and Little Livermere. The first area includes the three bowl barrows, the most northerly of which is visible as a large earthen mound, which stands to a height of about 1.5m and covers a circular area about 25m in diameter. A depression approximately 5m square and 0.5m deep at the centre of the mound is thought to be the result of an excavation by Canon Greenwell in 1868. He cut a number of trenches through the barrow and recovered six cremation burials from the sand constructed mound, including one in an urn and another which had been crudely overlain with rough flints. The whole of the northern side of the mound, together with parts of the west and south east sides, were left unexcavated to avoid the disturbance of trees. A second bowl barrow is situated approximately 25m to the south east of the first. It is visible as a roughly circular mound, with a diameter of about 26m and a height of about 1.8m. It is recorded that `some trenching' of the barrow took place in the 1860s by friends of Hunter Rodwell, the then owner of Ampton Hall. A third bowl barrow stands approximately 60m to the south of the first barrow and 40m to the south west of the second. It is visible as a circular mound, about 30m in diameter and 1.5m in height. An irregular hollow on the surface of the mound measures approximately 2m in diameter and 0.5m deep and may be the result of investigations by Paley of Ampton Hall, of which no further details are known. It is thought that the three mounds are encircled by ditches from which earth was quarried during the construction of the barrows, and although these have now become infilled and are no longer visible, they will survive as buried features below the ground surface. The second area includes the fourth barrow located approximately 60m to the west of the first. The ditch of this survives as a buried feature producing a cropmark (areas of differential crop growth over buried archaeological features), visible on aerial photographs, which defines a circular enclosure 30m in diameter known as a ring ditch, containing a central pit. The protection includes a 5m margin for the support and preservation of the ring ditch. The three barrows and ring ditch are known to be the survivors of a larger group of seven barrows. The other three were sited close to the surviving ring ditch west of the A134 Bury St Edmunds to Thetford road in the parish of Ingham and were levelled in the first quarter of the 19th century when the heathland was enclosed. It is recorded that during the removal of soil from the barrows an `urn of dark earth filled with bones' was recovered. Since that time ploughing has caused further destruction to the remains of these barrows and by 1976 they were no longer visible on aerial photographs. For this reason they are not included in the scheduling.