Bowl barrow on Lodge Hill, 650m east of Old Callow Down 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 on Lodge Hill is very well preserved. Despite some minor disturbance to the central area of the mound, the barrow is largely unaltered. Funerary remains will survive undisturbed within and below the mound allowing 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 character of the surrounding area at the time it was built. The position of the Lodge Hill bowl barrow within a wider group of similar barrows is of particular interest. Together, these monuments provide information concerning the variation and development of prehistoric burial practices, and the distribution of early settlement in the Chiltern Hills.

Details

The monument includes a small, well preserved Bronze Age bowl barrow situated near the summit of Lodge Hill, a prominent knoll rising from the valley floor between Bledlow Ridge and Hemley Hill. The circular mound has a diameter of c.14m and stands to a height of 0.8m. There is no evidence for an encircling quarry ditch, and it is thought that the mound was created by gathering turf and soil from the surrounding hillside. The barrow forms part of an extensive group of similar monuments extending along the valley to the south west as far as Bradenham, and including two bell barrows located on the northern side of Lodge Hill, some 500m to the north west. This alignment is thought to reflect the route of a prehistoric trackway traversing the valley floor to the west of Lodge Hill and leading towards Wain Hill on the northern edge of the Chiltern escarpment. It is probably no coincidence that later settlements flank this route, including an Iron Age settlement on the southern slopes of Lodge Hill and a Roman villa some 700m further to the south (both 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:

27124

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Dyer, J F, Archaeological Journal in Barrows of the Chilterns, Vol. 116, (1959), 14-23

Other
Roman Villa at lodge Hill Farm, 0878,
0879 Iron Age/Roman settlement, Lodge Hill,
Matthews, C L and Wainwright, A, National Trust Archaeological Survey - Bradenham, (1990)
Ordnance Survey Revision Card, JRL, SP 70 SE 30, (1974)

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