Bowl barrow in Easneye Wood, 110m south-east of Dairy Farm

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Overview

Heritage Category:
Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:
1009249
Date first listed:
12-Dec-1979
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Location

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:
Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:
1009249
Date first listed:
12-Dec-1979
Date of most recent amendment:
28-Jul-1992

Location

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

County:
Hertfordshire
District:
East Hertfordshire (District Authority)
Parish:
Stanstead Abbots
National Grid Reference:
TL 38477 13781

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 limited excavation, the bowl barrow in Easneye Wood is well preserved and will retain archaeological information and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow in Easneye Wood situated on a north-west facing slope overlooking the River Ash. It is visible as an earthen mound which measures 20m in diameter and c.3m in height. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch, from which material was excavated during the construction of the monument, surrounds the mound. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature c.2m wide. In 1899 J Evans carried out a small excavation which revealed a cremation burial without any grave goods.

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:
20667
Legacy System:
RSM

Sources

Other
Information from NAR (No TL 31 SE 17),

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.

Ordnance survey map of Bowl barrow in Easneye Wood, 110m south-east of Dairy Farm

Map

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jun-2026 at 06:48:20.

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© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100024900.© British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Licence number 102006.006.

End of official list entry

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