Three bowl barrows east of Ravens' Gill

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1007602
Date first listed:: 18-Feb-1993

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1007602
Date first listed:: 18-Feb-1993

Location

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

District:: Westmorland and Furness (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Crosby Ravensworth
National Park:: YORKSHIRE DALES
National Grid Reference:: NY 62766 11902

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. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. 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 and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite partial mutilation of the central mound and some minor stock erosion to the other mounds, the three bowl barrows east of Ravens' Gill survive reasonably well. The monument is a rare example in Cumbria of three earthen barrows in close proximity. None of the mounds are known to have been excavated and the southern and northern barrows in particular will retain undisturbed archaeological deposits within the mound and upon the old landsurface.

Details

The monument includes three earthen bowl barrows located on a narrow plateau east of Ravens' Gill between the bottom of a hillslope and the steep declivity to the gill. The southern barrow is situated at the western edge of the plateau and measures up to 0.4m high with maximum dimensions of 8.5m by 7m. The central barrow lies 10m to the north-east of this barrow and has been partially mutilated by the removal of its centre. It measures up to 0.4m high with maximum dimensions of 9.5m by 8.5m. The northern barrow lies 10m to the north of the central barrow and measures up to 1.2m high with maximum dimensions of 10m by 8m.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 22483
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
Darvill, T, MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Bowl Barrows (1988), (1988)
Darvill,T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)

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 Culture, Media and Sport.