Bowl barrow 460m west of Walford 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.

Despite an early investigation of the mound, the bowl barrow west of Walford Farm is a well preserved example of this class of monument. The barrow mound will retain details of its method of construction and evidence for the burial practices of its builders. The accumulated ditch fills will contain environmental evidence of activity at the barrow and land use around it. The buried ground surface beneath the mound itself will similarly preserve environmental evidence for the landscape in which the barrow was constructed. The 18th century investigation of this barrow, while causing only slight disturbance to the mound, has demonstrated the importance of its deposits. Other records indicate its probable association with similar barrows, now destroyed. The barrow has group value drawn from surrounding monuments, and its roadside position makes this barrow a clearly visible landmark.

Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a bowl barrow situated on level ground south of the River Teme and immediately south of the A4113. The barrow consists of an earthen mound, circular in form, c.20m diameter and c.1.2m high. Material for the construction of the barrow mound will have been quarried from a surrounding ditch, which is now completely infilled and no longer visible on the surface. The barrow mound has a slightly flattened top which may have resulted from an archaeological investigation, in 1736, when an urn containing human bone was found. The barrow stands in an archaeologically rich area, which includes the Iron Age hillforts of Brandon Camp and Coxall Knoll, two Roman camps, and the Romano-British town of Leintwardine to the east on a Roman road (all the subject of separate schedulings).

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:

27482

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Brown, A, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalist and Field Club in Round Barrows In Herefordshire, Vol. 40, (1972), 315-7
Watson, M D, Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Soc in Ring-Ditches of the Upper Severn Valley, Vol. 67, (1991), 9-14

Other
H&W SMR Officer, (1995)

End of official list entry

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