Reasons for Designation
Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period. Despite reduction in the heights of the mounds through, the three bowl barrows 215m south east of Beech Lawn, which form part of a larger round barrow cemetery, survive comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to their construction, relative chronology, territorial significance, social organisation, funerary and ritual practices and overall landscape context.
Details
The monument, which falls into three areas of protection, includes three bowl barrows, situated on the summit of a prominent ridge forming the watershed between the West Looe and Fowey Rivers. All three barrows survive as circular mounds with surrounding quarry ditches, from which material to construct the mounds was derived. The ditches are all preserved as buried features. The eastern barrow mound measures 17m in diameter and 0.5m high. The central barrow, standing in the corner of a field, measures approximately 22m in diameter and 2.5m high and has an uneven appearance. It has been partially cut on the east and there is a hollow on the west side. The western barrow mound measures 25m in diameter and up to 1.5m high.
Other surviving barrows from the cemetery are the subject of separate schedulings.
Sources: HER:-
PastScape Monument No:-432659, 432656
