Perry Dale bowl barrow and long barrow

Reasons for Designation

Long barrows were constructed as earthen or drystone mounds with flanking ditches and acted as funerary monuments during the Early and Middle Neolithic periods (3400-2400 BC). They represent the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, long barrows appear to have been used for communal burial, often with only parts of the human remains having been selected for interment. Certain sites provide evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and, consequently, it is probable that long barrows acted as important ritual sites for local communities over a considerable period of time. Some 500 long barrows are recorded in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as earthworks, and due to their comparative rarity, their considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all long barrows are considered to be nationally important.

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 2400-1500BC. 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 of 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 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 Perry Dale bowl barrow survives only moderately well, having been disturbed by stone-getting and excavation, it nonetheless retains significant archaeological remains in its undisturbed areas and is important for its relationship with the earlier long barrow. The long barrow itself appears to have gone unrecognised in the past and so remains largely intact.

Details

The monument is situated north of Perry Dale, in the north-west uplands of the limestone plateau of Derbyshire, and includes a long barrow and a bowl barrow within a single area. The long barrow includes a linear mound measuring 54m by 27m. The long axis runs from north-east to south-west and the mound is c.0.75m high at the south end and c.0.5m high at the north end. The bowl barrow, which was constructed on top of the long barrow at its north end, includes a roughly circular mound with a diameter of c.25m and a height of c.1m. A hole at the centre of the bowl barrow may be due to its being quarried for stone by 18th century wall builders. This is indicated by Bray who, writing in 1775, reports that a large number of human bones were found in the barrow. It may alternatively be the site of a partial excavation carried out by Rooke Pennington in c.1870. Pennington found two limestone cists or graves containing the remains of clay funerary pots. These remains date the bowl barrow to the Bronze Age while the long barrow is somewhat older and was constructed during the Neolithic period. The drystone wall which crosses the northern end of the monument is excluded from the scheduling though the ground underneath 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:

23269

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)
Bray, W, Sketch of a Tour into Derbyshire and Yorkshire, (1775)
Pennington, R, Reliquary in , (1874), 86

End of official list entry

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