Two bowl barrows 400m east of Cadley Vicarage

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. Their ubiquity and their tendency to occupy prominent locations makes them 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 partial excavation of the Cadley Vicarage barrows in 1889 and recent damage to the area of their ditch, much of the monument remains intact. It therefore has significant potential for the recovery of archaeological remains.

Details

The monument includes two adjacent bowl barrows, aligned north-south and set near the head of a dry valley. The northern mound is 18m in diameter and stands to a height of 0.7m. An irregular hollow on the centre of the mound is evidence of partial excavation of the site carried out by J W Brooke in 1889. The southern mound is also 18m in diameter and stands to a height of 1m. Both of the mounds are surrounded by a figure-of-eight shaped ditch from which the material for both mounds was quarried. This is no longer visible at ground level but survives as a buried feature to a width of c.3m. Finds from the area of the ditch include Bronze Age pottery and worked flint artefacts.

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:

12205

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Schofield, A J, 03 April 1990, (1990)

End of official list entry

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