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CHER Number:07448e
Type of record:Monument
Name:Bronze Age barrow, Chippenham Barrow Cemetery

Summary

One of four bowl barrows north of the A11/A14 junction, part of the Chippenham barrow cemetery.

Grid Reference:TL 674 669
Parish:Chippenham, East Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire

Monument Type(s):

  • ROUND BARROW (Bronze Age - 2500 BC? to 701 BC?)
  • MOUND (Bronze Age - 2500 BC? to 701 BC)
  • BARROW (Bronze Age - 2500 BC? to 701 BC)
  • RING DITCH (Bronze Age - 2500 BC? to 701 BC)

Associated Events:

  • Geophysical survey along Sunnica proposed route in Cambridgeshire in 2019-20
  • Aerial Investigation Mapping Project, East Cambridgeshire (Ref: P7767)

Protected Status:

  • Scheduled Monument 1015246: Four bowl barrows N of the A11/A14 junction, part of the Chippenham barrow cemetery

Full description

1. 6 Barrows - 4 extant; 1 site of, 1 natural feature.
2. Shown on map as BA barrows.
3. Group of 6 tumuli, at present under crop so that full survey is impractible. The tumuli are clearly mis-sited on OS 6in. Barrow 'E' (Grid reference taken from <4> - Bowl barrow 45,0m in diameter and 1,0m high.
5. Slight lift in undulating chalk plough which measures c 45,0m in diameter by 0,4m high. Published 1:2500 survey revised on MSD.
6. The pipeline passed near this barrow. A watching brief was maintained but nothing archaeological was seen. However, it was noted that extensive damage had been caused by ploughing, the height of the barrows having been reduced by c50cm since 1973.
7. One of four Bronze Age bowl barrows located within an arable field to the north of the junction of the A11 and the A14 (Newmarket bypass). The barrows are arranged in a broadly east-west alignment across the chalk escarpment to the north of Newmarket, separated by intervals of between 70m and 100m.
All four barrows remain unexcavated, although ploughing has reduced the mounds to low earthworks in the otherwise level field. This barrow lies close to the south western field boundary and the verge of the A11 (some 150m to the north east of the pumping station) and measures 45m in diameter and 0.4m high.
The barrows, which were first recorded in 1923, form part of a linear cemetery which included at least ten similar barrows spread over a distance of c.1.5km to the south of Chippenham Park (the Chippenham barrow cemetery). To the south and east, two barrows survive in small copses to the south of the A11 at Hilly Plantation (PRN 04425) and The Rookery (PRN 04424). The furthest extant barrow (PRN 04467) lies to the south of the Ely to Bury St Edmunds railway line, some 1.1km to the east of the road junction. The most westerly feature of the cemetery lay c.230m south west of the pumping station. The east-west alignment of the barrow cemetery, together with the positions of further isolated barrows to the south west of Newmarket and to the north east near Kennett and Barton Mills, broadly correlates with the course of the Roman road between Great Chesterford and Thetford (the Icknield Way). The barrows were clearly located to be visible from a prehistoric precursor to this route.

10-11. Geophysical survey carried out in 2019-20 as part of a major scheme of archaeological work for a solar farm in Suffolk included this barrow - measuring 26m in diameter, but no other barrows from this cemetery were picked up.

12-13. The earthwork remains of a Bronze Age barrow is visible on aerial photographs and remote sensing data and was mapped as part of the East Cambridgeshire Aerial Investigation and Mapping project (ECB6189). Located in fields between Hilly Plantation and Sounds Plantation and centred at TL 67427 66938, a circular mound is about 65.5 metres in diameter. Aerial photographs taken in 2008 suggest a ring ditch within the mound, visible as a cropmark.


<1> CCC Archaeology, 1985?, SMR Primary Record Card (Unpublished document). SCB2342.

<2> Fox, C., 1923, The Archaeology of the Cambridge Region, 30 (map) (Bibliographic reference). SCB1232.

<3> ASP, 1968, OS field notes (Unpublished document). SCB16678.

<4> Martin, E. A. and Denston, C.B., 1976, The excavation of two tumuli on Waterhall Farm, Chippenham, Cambridgeshire, 1973. PCAS 66: 1-22 (Article in serial). SCB10858.

<5> PAS, 1981, OS field notes 1981 (Unpublished document). SCB16675.

<7> English Heritage, 1997, Four bowl barrows N of the A11/A14 junction, part of the Chippenham barrow cemetery, SAM 27180 (Scheduling record). SCB16792.

<8> 1958, OS 6 inch map (Map). SCB8962.

<9> 1972, OS 1:10000 map (Map). SCB8759.

<10> Swinbank, L. et al, 2020, Geophysical survey report of Sunnica Energy Farm, Mildenhall, Suffolk (Unpublished report). SCB68112.

<11> Swinbank, L. et al, 2020, Geophysical survey report of Sunnica Energy Farm, Mildenhall, Suffolk Zone F, 13a-b (Unpublished report). SCB68115.

<12> Google Earth, 2008, Google Earth Pro Imagery from 2008, dated 25-JUL-2008 (Website). SCB50510.

<13> East Cambridgeshire AIM, 2020, Next Perspectives APGB Digital Terrain Model dated 24-JAN-2019, TL6766 (Geospatial data). SCB68989.

Sources and further reading

<1>Unpublished document: CCC Archaeology. 1985?. SMR Primary Record Card.
<2>Bibliographic reference: Fox, C.. 1923. The Archaeology of the Cambridge Region. 30 (map).
<3>Unpublished document: ASP. 1968. OS field notes.
<4>Article in serial: Martin, E. A. and Denston, C.B.. 1976. The excavation of two tumuli on Waterhall Farm, Chippenham, Cambridgeshire, 1973. PCAS 66: 1-22.
<5>Unpublished document: PAS. 1981. OS field notes 1981.
<7>Scheduling record: English Heritage. 1997. Four bowl barrows N of the A11/A14 junction, part of the Chippenham barrow cemetery, SAM 27180.
<8>Map: 1958. OS 6 inch map.
<9>Map: 1972. OS 1:10000 map.
<10>Unpublished report: Swinbank, L. et al. 2020. Geophysical survey report of Sunnica Energy Farm, Mildenhall, Suffolk.
<11>Unpublished report: Swinbank, L. et al. 2020. Geophysical survey report of Sunnica Energy Farm, Mildenhall, Suffolk Zone F. 13a-b.
<12>Website: Google Earth. 2008. Google Earth Pro Imagery from 2008. dated 25-JUL-2008.
<13>Geospatial data: East Cambridgeshire AIM. 2020. Next Perspectives APGB Digital Terrain Model dated 24-JAN-2019. TL6766.

Related records

07448Related to: Chippenham Barrow Cemetery (Monument)

Documents

Sunnica Solar Farm
© Magnitude Surveys
SCB68115-GEO_SunnicaZoneF_MAGNITUDE_2020.pdf
© Magnitude Surveys