Bowl barrow 550m south of Bristol Plain Farm: part of a linear round barrow cemetery
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1008090
- Date first listed:
- 19-Dec-1929
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 19-Sep-1994
Map
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Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Somerset
- District:
- Mendip (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Rodney Stoke
- National Grid Reference:
- ST 50211 51421
Reasons for Designation
Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.
The bowl barrow 550m south of Bristol Plain Farm survives well and contains
archaeological and environmental evidence relating both to the monument and
the landscape in which it was constructed.
As well as being associated with the other bowl barrows in the round barrow
cemetery, numerous other burial monuments of the same date also survive in the
area. Such evidence gives an indication of the intensity of occupation and
the nature of social organisation present in the area during the Bronze Age
period.
Details
The monument includes a bowl barrow located on a slight rise 550m south of
Bristol Plain Farm. It is visible as a barrow mound 12m in diameter and
c.0.75m high at its highest point.
Although no longer visible at ground level a ditch, from which material was
quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds the barrow mound.
This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature c.2m
wide.
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:
- 13915
- Legacy System:
- RSM
Sources
Books and journals
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural Hist Soc' in Somerset Barrows Part II, , Vol. Vol 115, (1971), p. 114
Tratman, E K, 'University of Bristol Speleological Society' in Barrow Catalogue, ()
Tratman, E K, 'Proceedings of the Univ of Bristol Speleological Society' in Fieldwork, , Vol. Vol 2(3), (1925), 284-5
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.
End of official listing