Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

EN3136 Barnham, Norfolk

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

LiDAR 1m DTM Hillshade

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

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HER:  Suffolk BNH009 (None)

NMR:  TL 8 7 NE 29 (382706)

SM:  None

NGR:  TL 8660 7775

X:  586601  Y:  277750  (OSGB36)

Summary

Situated to the SW of Barnham on the top of an E-W ridge overlooking the valley of the Little Ouse. Identified as a cropmark in 1976. Trapezium shaped and double ditched with 10m gap berm ditches, N side 86m, E side 96m, S side 76m, W side 74m, enclosing c. 0.8ha. Simple entrance on E side. Large area excavated in 1978 covering NE corner. Outer ditch was 7.2m wide x 2.9m deep; inner ditch 7.2m x 2.8m. Slight remains of an inner bank but no evidence of palisading or internal features. A small clay-lined pit was found at the tail of, or under the inner bank, another pit contained an articulated human leg. Pottery not very abundant, mainly IA coarse wares and a few sherds with cabled rims plus one sherd of 'Belgic' butt beaker. C14 date of 360BC -110AD cal. from charcoal in primary fill of inner ditch. Also BA flintwork and Beaker pottery suggesting episodic occupation since the Neolithic..

Status

Citizen Science:  ✗

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Confirmed

Location

X:  82303  Y:  6866572  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  0.739337916599372  Latitude:  52.36598273717952  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  England

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Suffolk

Historic County:  Norfolk

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Barnham

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant   ✗
Cropmark   ✓
Likely Destroyed   ✗

Land Use

None

Current Use:
Woodland   ✗
Commercial Forestry Plantation   ✗
Parkland   ✗
Pasture (Grazing)   ✗
Arable   ✓
Scrub/Bracken   ✗
Bare Outcrop   ✗
Heather/Moorland   ✗
Heath   ✗
Built-up   ✗
Coastal Grassland   ✗
Other   ✗

Landscape

Hillfort Type

Partial contour fort on an E-W ridge overlooking the valley of the Little Ouse.

Type:
Contour Fort   ✗
Partial Contour Fort   ✓
Promontory Fort   ✗
Hillslope Fort   ✗
Level Terrain Fort   ✗
Marsh Fort   ✗
Multiple Enclosure Fort   ✗

Topographic Position

Position:
Hilltop   ✗
Coastal Promontory   ✗
Inland Promontory   ✗
Valley Bottom   ✗
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop   ✗
Ridge   ✓
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp   ✗
Hillslope   ✗
Lowland   ✗
Spur   ✗

Dominant Topographic Feature:  Ridge

Aspect:
North   ✗
Northeast   ✗
East   ✗
Southeast   ✗
South   ✗
Southwest   ✗
West   ✓
Northwest   ✗
Level   ✗

Altitude:  52.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

Pottery from excavation, one C14 date (360 BC - 110AD cal). BA flintwork and Beaker pottery. Possible Saxon activity.

Reliability:  B - Medium

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC   ✗
1200BC - 800BC   ✗
800BC - 400BC   ✗
400BC - AD50   ✓
AD50 - AD400   ✗
AD400 - AD 800   ✗
Post AD800   ✗
Unknown   ✗

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   None

Evidence:
Artefactual:   None
C14:   None

Investigation History

Identified as a cropmark in 1976. Large area excavated in 1978 covering NE corner (Martin 1993) .

Investigations:
Other (1976):   None
Excavation (1978):   None

Interior Features

Pottery and human remains from excavated pits.

Water Source

None

Source:
None   ✓
Spring   ✗
Stream   ✗
Pool   ✗
Flush   ✗
Well   ✗
Other   ✗

Surface

None

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features   ✓
Round Stone Structures   ✗
Rectangular Stone Structures   ✗
Curvilinear Platforms   ✗
Other Roundhouse Evidence   ✗
Pits   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation   ✗
Pits   ✓
Postholes   ✓
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics   ✓
Pits   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Quarry Hollows   ✗
Other   ✗
Nothing Found   ✗

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds   ✗
Pottery   ✓
Metal   ✗
Metalworking   ✗
Human Bones   ✓
Animal Bones   ✓
Lithics   ✓
Environmental   ✗
Other   ✗

Aerial

NO APPARENT FEATURES

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked   ✓
None   ✗
Roundhouses   ✗
Rectangular Structures   ✗
Pits   ✗
Postholes   ✗
Roads/Tracks   ✗
Other   ✗

Entrances

Simple entrance on E side.

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
None:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  ✗

Chevaux de Frise:  ✗

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (East):   None

Enclosing Works

Two ditches separated by berm with inner bank.

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.8ha.
Total:   0.8ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✓   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   1
SW Quadrant:   1
NW Quadrant:   1
Total:   1

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✓
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗
Unknown   ✗

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate   ✗
Univallate   ✗
Partial Bivallate   ✗
Bivallate   ✗
Partial Multivallate   ✗
Multivallate   ✗

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✓
Stone Wall   ✗
Rubble   ✗
Wall-walk   ✗
Evidence of Timber   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✓
Unfinished   ✗
Other   ✗

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None   ✗
Earthen Bank   ✓
Stone Wall   ✗
Murus Duplex   ✗
Timber-framed   ✗
Timber-laced   ✗
Vitrification   ✗
Other Burning   ✗
Palisade   ✗
Counter Scarp Bank   ✗
Berm   ✗
Unfinished   ✗
No Known Excavation   ✗
Other   ✗

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✓   None

Number of Ditches:  2

Annex:
✗   None

References

Martin E. 1993. Settlements on Hilltops: seven prehistoric sites in Suffolk'. East Anglian Archaeology 65, 1-22.



Terms of Use

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 and should be cited as:

Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk


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