NHER 57378 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Possible Bronze Age barrow on Snetterton Heath

July 2012. Norfolk NMP.
It is reported that, in 1936, a possible Bronze Age bowl barrow was found on Snetterton Heath. The centre was excavated and in 1943 material from the mound was taken for use by the airfield, see NHER 10788.
However, it is interesting to note that this feature was not visible on an aerial photograph from 1942 (S3), when the airfield was visible under construction, suggesting that the ‘barrow’ NHER 10788 may have been either mis-located or wrongly identified. Trial trenching by HAT in 2001 (NHER 35980) could not confirm the presence of the barrow in this field, although their location of the barrow differed again to that of the HER.
What seems more likely, from the aerial photographic evidence, is that the barrow identified by Rainbird Clarke (NHER 10788) was in fact located slightly to the south, at TM 0138 8964. A mound has been identified in this location with a more degraded appearance than the three earthworks described as part of NHER 57377, measuring approximately 34m by 22m, but this too has clearly been recently disturbed (S2), and may have been at least partially excavated during World War Two, hence the pit features within the mound have been recorded as part of the record for NHER 57377.
E. Bales (NMP), 02 July 2012.