Bowl barrow and adjacent section of boundary bank and ditch 700m south of Mill House

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.

The bowl barrow 700m south of Mill House survives well and will retain archaeological information concerning its construction and the manner and duration of its use. Evidence for the local environment prior to and during that time will be preserved also in soils buried beneath the mound and in the fill of the barrow ditch. The monument lies c.360m south west of another bowl barrow, and the two are among a small number of round barrows sited near the low escarpment of the Greensand Belt, overlooking the eastern edge of the Fens and the marshes bordering the Wash to the west. As a group, these barrows provide some evidence for the character and density of prehistoric settlement in the area. Prehistoric barrows were sometimes reused as markers or points of alignment in much later boundaries, and the relationship between this barrow and the linear ditch and bank which cross its southern edge is thus of particular interest for the study of local landscape history.

Details

The monument is located on a gentle, north facing slope to the south of Babingley River, and it includes a bowl barrow and an adjoining section of a later boundary bank and ditch which cross the southern edge of the barrow. The barrow is visible as an earthen mound with a ditch around it. The mound, which stands to a height of c.1.5m, was originally probably circular in form, but now covers an oval area measuring c.34m east-west by 27m. The surrounding ditch, from which earth was dug and used during the construction of the barrow, has become largely infilled but is marked by a hollow c.4m wide and up to 0.4m deep in the ground surface around the north, west and east sides of the mound. The subsequent digging of the linear boundary ditch on the south side of the mound has obscured and partly removed the original barrow ditch in that area, and also accounts for the truncated form of the mound itself. This later ditch and the associated slight bank which runs along its southern edge probably mark a wood boundary. The ditch measures c.0.5m in depth and between 4m and 5m in width, and the bank measures c.2m in width.

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:

21332

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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