Two bowl barrows on Chelmorton Low

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.

Although the bowl barrows on Chelmorton Low have been disturbed in the past, they both retain significant archaeological remains.

Details

The two bowl barrows on Chelmorton Low are located on a hilltop on the western edge of Taddington Moor on the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes both barrows within a single constraint area. The larger, south- western barrow comprises a sub-circular mound measuring 24m by 22m and surviving to a height of c.1.5m. It is situated c.20m from the smaller, north-eastern barrow which is roughly circular and measures 18.5m by 17.5m by c.1m high. Both barrows have suffered disturbance in the past, both by eighteenth-century wall builders who robbed them of their stone and by partial excavation. In 1782, the larger barrow was found to contain a stone cist which held the remains of four or five inhumations and was situated on the north-east side, just inside a kerb of limestone blocks. This kerb was partially uncovered in 1961 by Forde-Johnson when it was demonstrated that it formed part of a ring inside the barrow of 19.5m diameter. Disturbed human bones were also found by Salt in 1909, near to the centre of the barrow on the western side. The smaller barrow was partially excavated by Salt and Forde- Johnson, and also by Thomas Bateman in 1846. Bateman recovered flint implements and evidence of a cremation, while a polygonal kerb of stone blocks was partially uncovered by Forde-Johnson. The excavated remains indicate a Bronze Age date for both barrows.

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:

13348

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)
Bateman, T, Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire, (1849), 97
Bateman, T, Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire, (1849), 21-2
Pilkington, J, A View of Derbyshire (1783), (1783), 424-6
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire , (1977), 27
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire , (1977), 28
Forde-Johnson, J, Derbyshire Archaeological Journal in The Excavation of Two Barrows on Chelmorton Low, (1962)

End of official list entry

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