| Summary : A Bronze Age bowl barrow, listed by Grinsell as Bromham 1. Located immediately outside the earthworks of Oliver's Castle (SU 06 SW 11), it was examined in 1907 by BH Cunnington, with little being found. In 1928, rabbits exposed an inverted pottery vessel covering a cremation, among the bones of which was a bronze dagger. These finds clearly represent a secondary burial, located on the extreme edge of the mound. The 1907 trench had found no signs of a primary burial. |
| More information : (SU 00016460) TUMULUS (LB). (1)
Bromham 1 - SU 00036457 - a bowl barrow 33 x 1 1/2ft. In 1928 an MBA handled Cornish Pyrenean hybrid urn was found inverted over burnt bones and a bronze dagger with two rivets. (2)
Bromham 1, SU 00026460, a bowl barrow 1.5 metres high. Surveyed at 1:2500. (3)
These barrows are clearly visible on aerial photographs. (4)
The barrow was first trenched in 1907 by BH Cunnington during investigations of Oliver's Castle (SU 06 SW 11). This barrow and its immediate neighbour Bromham 2 (SU 06 SW 225) are located on the brow of the chalk escarpment at the southwest end of the hillfort. The barrows lie outside the main ramparts, but Gingell (1979/80) points to a narrow terrace west of Bromham 2 raisingthe possibility that the two barrows were at one stage enclosed.
Cunnington's excavations were primarily focused on the hillfort, but one trench was extended so as to cut through the mound of Bromham 1. According to Cunnington, "the mound had at some time been much levelled, and the trench embraced practically all that remained of it. No trace of any interment could be found, and the mound showed signs of having been dug into from the top. A few worked flints, some fragments of coarse grey Bronze Age pottery, and some sherds of thin red Romano-British ware, were found scattered indiscriminately to a depth of18in. Below this nothing was found but a few broken flints. The greatest depth to the undisturbed chalk was only 3 ft".
That Cunnngton's trenching was not as thorough as intended was highlighted in the autumn of 1928 when rabbits exposed an inverted urn located, according to ME Cunnington, "on the extreme fringe of the mound covered with little more than turf". Sadly, she did not mention which side of the mound this urn was found on. Excavation showed that the urn covered a deposit of cremated bones, among which was a bronze knife-dagger (a flat riveted knife-dagger according to Gerloff). ME Cunnington, referring to the 1907 excavation, notes that "as no primary burial was found and the mound appeared to have been previously dug into fromthe top, it was not further investigated and this secondary burial was not found". This contrasts somewhat with her earlier account of the 1907 work when she noted that "the trench embraced practically all that remained" of the barrow. (5-9)
The Bronze Age round barrow is visible as an earthwork on vertical and oblique aerial photographs and on lidar. The low mound has a diameter measuring approximately 8.5m and was mapped as part of the Historic England Verlucio aerial investigation & mapping project. Along with an adjacent barrow (NRHE 1346824), the mound appears to have been incorporated within the outer ramparts of the Iron Age hillfort, Oliver's Castle (NRHE 216145). The barrow remains extant on the latest 2019 Environment Agency lidar. (10)
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