Gallows Hill

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1007020

Date first listed: 30-Aug-1922

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

National Park: DARTMOOR

National Grid Reference: SX 51204 85223

Summary

Bowl barrow known as Gallows Hill, 210m WNW of Lydford County Primary School.

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 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. The bowl barrow known as Gallows Hill survives well and will contain both archaeological and environmental information relating to the mound and its surrounding landscape.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 19 October 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a bowl barrow situated towards the summit of a south facing slope overlooking the valley of the River Lyd. It stands at the northern end of Lydford and survives as a circular flat topped mound, measuring 35m in diameter and up to 2.1m high. The surrounding quarry ditch from which material to construct the mound was derived, survives as a buried feature measuring up to 4m wide.

The name of the barrow is derived from a local tradition stating it was the site of the Lydford Gallows.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number: DV 16

Legacy System: RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
PastScape Monument No:- 440561

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.