NHER 52421 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Cropmarks and earthworks of a linear Bronze Age barrow cemetery

December 2009. Norfolk NMP.
The cropmarks of a linear Bronze Age barrow cemetery are visible on aerial photographs on a slight promontory of higher land in Howe (S1-S3). The site is centred on TG 2749 0045. It is interesting to note that these are the first barrows identified within Howe parish, a name often associated with the presence of barrows or barrow-like hills. The aerial photographs indicate that at least one of these barrows may have survived as an earthwork into the relatively recent past (NHER 52429), possibly being reused as a mill mound, see record for details. It is interesting to speculate about whether this barrow cemetery had any relevance to the naming of the parish. It is notable that the parish boundary, located only 150m to the north of the cemetery, follows the same alignment as the linear cemetery at this point. This barrow group is located to the south of a minor watercourse, overlooking the valley. Three of barrows are arranged in a line and a fourth ‘C-shaped’ monument (NHER 52430) is located slightly south of this line. A fifth possible monument, a small oval enclosure, was possibly identified to the west of the mapped group at TG 2726 0041 (S3), but was not mapped due to the high probability that it was a geologically derived feature. Whilst it seems likely that the majority of the barrows are Bronze Age in date, finds recovered on the site indicate Neolithic activity (NHER 28429), although this may relate to activity pre-dating the establishment of the barrow cemetery. A possible Neolithic funerary enclosure (NHER 53288) has tentatively been identified to the immediate southwest of the site, although this interpretation is not certain and it may instead be a medieval to post medieval agricultural enclosure.
S. Horlock (NMP), 29 December 2009.