Bowl barrow in the north-west corner of Town Copse

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 evidence of past disturbance of the central area of the barrow mound, much of the round barrow in Town Copse still survives comparatively well with good potential for the survival of archaeological remains. Environmental material relating to the landscape in which the monument was constructed is likely to survive as a deposit sealed on the old land surface beneath the barrow mound.

Details

The monument includes the remains of a bowl barrow to the north of the Ridgeway and on the edge of an east facing chalk escarpment above and to the west of the River Thames. The barrow survives as a well defined mound 18.5m in diameter and up to 1.6m high. The central area of the mound is slightly hollowed by an old disturbance 0.2m deep, probably resulting from an early exploration of the monument. Surrounding the mound is a ditch, from which material for the mound would have been quarried during its construction. This has become infilled over the years and survives largely as a buried feature. However its outer edge can be recognised as a slight earthwork 2.5m out from the edge of the mound.

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:

19027

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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