Bowl barrow, known as the `Round Hill', 440m WNW of College 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 known as the Round Hill is very well preserved when compared to the majority of barrows within the Great Ouse Valley. The mound stands close to its original height and there is no evidence that it has ever been excavated. Funerary remains will survive undisturbed within and below the mound enabling valuable insights into early burial practices and the beliefs of the community which constructed the monument. The former ground surface which lies buried beneath the mound will retain evidence for the appearance of the landscape at the time it was built. The position of the Round Hill within a wider group of similar monuments is of particular interest. Together these provide important information concerning the variation and development of prehistoric burial practices, and the distribution of early settlement along the course of the River Great Ouse.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated in a prominent position on high ground to the north west of the village of Roxton and the junction of the Rivers Great Ouse and Ivel. The barrow mound stands amidst a wide area of cultivated fields and is a conspicuous local landmark. It is circular in plan, measuring about 21m in diameter, and survives to a height of approximately 1.7m, with steep sloping sides descending from a level area on the summit which measures 10m across. The barrow, which is apparently unexcavated, is thought to be an outlying example associated with a pattern of Bronze Age barrows located along the gravel terraces flanking the River Great Ouse. Unlike the `Round Hill', however, most of these are only visible as cropmarks which have been recorded from the air. This distribution, which comprises some 200 monuments in the upper and middle sections of the Great Ouse Valley, included a group of five on the north side of the junction of the Rivers Great Ouse and Ivel (some 2km south east of the Round Hill). These were excavated in the early 1970s, prior to gravel extraction, and found to contain burials dating from c.1800 BC. A fieldwalking programme undertaken in the late 1970s identified a pattern of broadly contemporary worked flint which concentrated on this barrow group and extended up the side of the river valley to the west of Roxton. The limit of this survey area came within 500m of the Round Hill. The fence surrounding the monument is 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:

27112

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Wadmore, B, The Earthworks of Bedfordshire, (1920), 259-261
Field, K, The Archaeological Journal in Ring Ditches of the Upper and Middle Great Ouse Valley, Vol. 131, (1974), 58-74
Meaney, A L, Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society in Hundred and Wapentake Meeting Places of the Cambridge Region, Vol. LXXXII, (1993), 67-92
Woodward, P J, The Archaeological Journal in Flint Distribution, Ring Ditches & Settlement in Gt. Ouse Valley, Vol. 135, (1978), 32-56

Other
Roxton enclosure map, CRO MA 44/1, (1813)
Notes on site visit, White, R, 1492: Round Hill, Roxton, (1978)
Beds CC SMR notes, 14410: Wood End DMV,

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