Bowl barrow 90m south-west of Bicknell Farm

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1008294
Date first listed:: 22-Dec-1977

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1008294
Date first listed:: 22-Dec-1977
Date of most recent amendment:: 20-May-1994

Location

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

District:: Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Nempnett Thrubwell
District:: North Somerset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Butcombe
National Grid Reference:: ST 51641 62732

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 excavation, the bowl barrow 90m south-west of Bicknell Farm survives well and contains archaeological and environmental information relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. Pottery recovered from the barrow suggests that it may have been reused in the Iron Age period for burial. It was subsequently reused as a windmill mound in the 13th century AD.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated below the crest of a prominent flat-topped hill 90m south-west of Bicknell Farm. The barrow has a mound c.2m high and c.26m in diameter surrounded by a ditch, c.3m wide and c.0.6m deep, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. Partial excavation of the site in 1946 produced sherds of Iron Age pottery and a cremation burial, confirming that the site represents a prehistoric burial monument, but suggesting its possible reuse in the Iron Age period. During the medieval period the mound supported a windmill.

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:: 22815
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Rahtz, P, M, , 'Proc of Univ Bristol Speleological Society' in Excavation of a Round Barrow SW of Bicknell Farm, Butcombe, Som, , Vol. 2, (1958), 89
Other
Interpretation of excavation results, Interpretation of excavation results,

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.