Bowl barrow west of Fen Covert, 305m south of Fen Cottage

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1011381
Date first listed:: 10-Jun-1970

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1011381
Date first listed:: 10-Jun-1970
Date of most recent amendment:: 14-Sep-1993

Location

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

County:: Suffolk
District:: East Suffolk (District Authority)
Parish:: Westleton
National Grid Reference:: TM 45344 72618

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 greater part of the barrow 305m south of Fen Cottage survives well and retains important archaeological information, despite having undergone some disturbance from past exploration in the north-western side of the mound. Evidence concerning the construction of the barrow, the manner and duration of its use, and the local environment, at and prior to the time of its construction, will be contained in the mound and in the soils buried beneath it.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on low-lying heathland to the west of Westwood Marshes. It is visible as an earthen mound standing to a height of c.1m and covering a sub-circular area which measures 22m east-west by 25m north-south. In the north-western edge of the mound, a crescent-shaped hollow, measuring 9m by 6m, marks the site of an exploration, probably carried out early in the 19th century. The northern side of the mound, the original diameter of which was about 22m, has been extended c.3m by upcast from this excavation.

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:: 21280
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Davy, D E, Journal of Excursions 1823-1844

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.