Bowl barrow 400m west of Cooks Plantation

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 the disturbance and partial excavation caused by the construction of the WWII observation post, the bowl barrow 400m west of Cooks Plantation will contain primary deposits and environmental evidence from the old land surface sealed beneath the surviving portion of the mound. It is one of several such barrows in this area and, as such, contributes to an understanding of the intensity of settlement and nature of land-use occuring in the area during the Bronze Age period.

Details

The monument includes the remains of a substantial bowl barrow situated below the crest of a north facing slope. The barrow mound survives as a circular mound 30m in diameter and stands to a height of 3.4m. The whole centre of the mound has been hollowed out and a concrete and brick Second World War observation post has been built into the mound. This is approached by a concrete sided entrance gulley set into the east quarter. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds the mound. This has become infilled over the years around the north, east and west sides of the barrow and is overlain by a side embankment of the Old Bath Road in the south. However it still survives as a buried feature some 3m wide. Finds made in the barrow when the pill-box was built included fragments of human bone and fragments of shale and Bronze Age pottery, including an intact beaker. The WWII observation post and concrete sided entrance gulley are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath 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:

19037

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Card No SU 06 NE 72, NAR No.: SU 06 NE 72,

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