Cropmarks of possible Iron Age to early Roman barrows at, south-east of Parsonage Farm (EHER 1278)

Three square ditches of possible Iron Age date and a ring ditch were photographed by the NMR in 1976.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: Cropmarks - three small, square enclosures in an aligned group. There are possibly central features in two, which may be burials. <1> <2> Possibly associated with the Roman cemetery (see EHER 1277). Aerial photographs show three square enclosures with possible central pits in aligned group (also including round barrow, ring ditch and various linear features). <3> <4> The three square possible barrows are defined by broad ditches, each enclosing areas measuring some 9-10m square, with slightly rounded corners. Internal burial pits are visible within each of the three enclosed areas; in two of the barrows these are placed centrally. Also present is a round barrow, 10m in diameter; it too has a broad perimeter ditch and internal pits of primary and secondary burials All four barrows are close together aligned on a NNW-SSE axis. Without further investigation it is not possible to date the barrow group more precisely. In other parts of the country, e.g. Yorkshire, square barrows have proved to belong to the Arras culture dated between the fourth and first centuries BC. In Essex other square enclosures are known, but most are larger and belong to the 1st century AD (e.g. at Stanway the largest burial chamber within a series of square funerary enclosures dates to around 60 AD. <5> October 1999. Scheduling. The buried remains of three square barrows and a single circular barrow of Iron Age or Early Roman date located 260 metres south east of Parsonage farm on the northern outskirts of Great Dunmow. Although the square and circular barrows are no longer visible on the ground, their infilled ditches and central burial pits can be seen from the air as cropmarks. These cropmarks were first identified on aerial photographs taken during the summer drought of 1976. The three square barrows are defined by broad ditches, each enclosing areas measuring some 9 metres to 10 metres square, with slightly rounded corners. Internal burial pits are visible within each of the three enclosed areas. The circular barrow is some 10 metres in diameter; it to has a broad perimeter ditch and internal pits of primary and secondary burials. Originally the barrows would have had internal mounds created by the upcast from the excavation of the ditches; these, however have long since been reduced by ploughing. All four barrows are aligned close together on a NNW-SSE axis. Although most square barrows are of Iron Age date, finds collected from the filed surface suggest that these examples may be of Roman origin. Artefacts from the Roman period have been found in the field since the 1760s, when late second century coins were collected. A more recent find of a glass ointment jar (unguentarium) dating to the second to third centuries AD is most likely to have been derived from a disturbed grave fill. Scheduled. <6> See also: <7> - <9>