Bowl barrow 700m NNE of Duke's 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 having the contents of its burial chamber removed, the barrow 700m NNE of Dukes Farm is a well preserved example of this class of monument. The barrow mound will retain further evidence for its method of construction, and additional burial remains may be preserved within it. The structural components can tell us about the technology and burial practices of the prehistoric community who built and used the monument. The ground surface sealed beneath the mound will retain environmental evidence for the land use at and around the monument immediately prior to its construction. The barrow's close association with the Cefn Track, which is also the parish boundary, increases its interest as a possible territorial marker as well as a burial monument. When viewed alongside other examples in the area, the monument can contribute to our understanding of the social organisation and demography of the Bronze Age population.

Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a bowl barrow, situated on a slight mound on the top of the Cefn Hill ridge, overlooking the Monnow Valley and just west of the Cefn Track. The remains include an earthen mound, c.10m in diameter and c.0.5m high. The mound has an uneven surface and flattish top, in the centre of which is a stone-lined burial chamber, or cist. The cist was revealed when the owner attempted to level the mound in the early 1980s, and consists of four slate slabs set on their sides to enclose a sub-rectangular area, aligned roughly north-south. The two short sides, both 0.76m long and 0.15m wide, are set inside the longer stones, the eastern of which is 1.7m long and 0.25m wide, and the western 1.4m long by 0.16m wide. The chamber is 0.5m deep, and is now empty. Its fill of loose soil was removed by the owner and examined by members of the Herefordshire Archaeology Unit; two flints and some very small bones were recovered. No cap stone was found, and it is possible that this was removed during an early investigation of the site, probably along with further finds from within the chamber. The cist is similar to those found in the Olchon Valley earlier this century, and c.4km to the north west, again just below the Cefn Track, is another example with the same south west aspect (the subject of a separate scheduling); both command impressive views and it is likely that more await discovery along the ridge. The track, which may itself be prehistoric in origin, is also the parish boundary, and these monuments may have served as territorial markers, defining land divisions which have been retained to the present day.

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:

27498

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club in Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, Vol. 1930/2, (1930), 147

Other
Shoesmith, Ron, (1995)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.