Boars Low bowl barrow

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.

Although partially disturbed by excavation, Boars Low bowl barrow is still a well preserved example containing further significant archaeological remains.

Details

Boars Low bowl barrow, also known as Bowers Low or Rose Low, is a roughly circular cairn in an unusual low-lying location in the south-western ridges of the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes a large, well preserved mound measuring 25m by 24m and standing at a height of c.3m. This was partially excavated by Lucas in the 1860s and found to contain a contracted inhumation and a cremation burial, both of which indicate a Bronze Age date for the barrow. A later Anglian burial was also found indicating the re-use of the barrow in the early medieval period. The drystone wall crossing the edge of the monument is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it 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:

13321

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, T, Ten Years Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave-Hills, (1861), 290
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire, (1986), 97
Evison, V I, Journal of Antiquities in Journal of Antiquities, Vol. 43, (1963), 48
Lucas, J F, The Reliquary in The Reliquary (Volume 5), Vol. 5, (1864), 165-9

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