Nettly Knowe 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.

Although the centre of Nettly Knowe bowl barrow has been disturbed by excavation, it is still a well preserved example containing significant archaeological remains. On the south-east side these will have been preserved by the railway embankment.

Details

Nettly Knowe bowl barrow, also known as Net Low, is a roughly circular barrow overlooking Dovedale in the south-western ridges of the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes a flat-topped mound measuring 22m by 18.5m by c.0.6m high, partially overlain on its south-east side by a railway embankment. A Bronze Age date was assigned to the barrow after a partial excavation carried out by Thomas Bateman in 1845 revealed an extended skeleton accompanied by a number of burnt flint artefacts, a bronze dagger and other objects of bronze and jet. Excluded from the scheduling are the boundary wall and railway embankment on the south-east side but the ground beneath these features 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:

13335

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), 68-9
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire , (1977)
Fowler, M, Derbyshire Archaeological Journal in The Transition From Late Neolithic To Early Br A In The Pk Dist of Derbys, (1955)

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