Wardlow Hay Cop bowl barrow

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.

Wardlow Hay Cop bowl barrow is a large and well-preserved example which, although partly natural and somewhat disturbed on the north-west side, includes large areas of undisturbed archaeological remains.

Details

Wardlow Hay Cop is a steep-sided hill on the western edge of Longstone Moor on the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes a sub-circular bowl barrow measuring 30m by 26.5m which has suffered some disturbance on the north-west side but is otherwise intact. The barrow is situated in a prominent position at the summit of the hill and incorporates a natural knoll to give it height and bulk. The elevation on the west side, where the hillside drops away sharply into Cressbrook Dale, is c.4m while on the remaining sides it is c.2m. No recorded excavation has been carried out on the barrow which, due to its appearance and similarity to others of the period, has been assigned to the Bronze Age. Excluded from the scheduling is the trig point set into the summit of the mound but the ground beneath it is included.

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:

13378

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire , (1977), 98

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