Bowl barrow 250m south west of Ashridge Farm

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 250m south west of Ashridge Farm survives comparatively well despite areas of localised disturbance caused by plough encroachment and previous excavation and the levelling of the southern side of the barrow mound by road construction. It contains archaeological and environmental information relating both to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. The importance of the monument is enhanced by its location in an area which supports a concentration of contemporary burial monuments, thus giving an indication of the nature and scale of human occupation during the Bronze Age period.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located on sloping ground 250m south west of Ashridge Farm. It consists of a barrow mound 20m in diameter and c.1m high at its highest point. The southern side of the barrow mound has been levelled by road construction. Encroachment on the barrow mound by cultivation has exposed part of the stone kerb which surrounded the mound, the largest stone of which is 2m in length. Although no longer visible at ground level a ditch, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument surrounds the barrow mound. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature c.3m in width. The barrow was partially excavated in 1966 by D.J.Tomalin. Finds included a cremation burial beneath a ceramic urn which was found to be later than the construction of the monument. The road and a drystone wall which cross the barrow mound are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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:

13875

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Tratman, E K, University of Bristol Speleological Society in Barrow Catalogue, ()
Tratman, EK, Proceedings of the Univ of Bristol Speleological Society in Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society, Vol. Vol 3(1), (1927), 32,34-5
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural Hist Soc in Somerset Barrows Part II, Vol. Vol 115, (1971), 97
Tomlin, D J, Proceedings of the Univ of Bristol Speleological Society in A Secondary Cremation..., Vol. 11(3), (1968), 244-7

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