Bowl barrow 150m north west of Hollybrook

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 north west of Hollybrook is a well preserved example of this class of monument. The barrow mound will retain evidence for its method of construction, including internal revetments, as well as for the burial or burials within it, enhancing our understanding of both the technology and social organisation of its builders. The accumulated ditch fills will preserve environmental evidence for activities which took place at the site, during both the construction of the barrow and its subsequent use. The buried ground surface beneath the mound itself will preserve evidence for the prehistoric landscape in which the barrow was built. In its elevated position on a natural knoll the monument would have been a clearly visible landmark for the Bronze Age population of the area.

Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a bowl barrow, situated at the top of a natural knoll on the lower slopes of an east facing scarp, overlooking the Clun Valley. The knoll rises steeply on the west and more gently on the east side, where it blends in with the general slope of the land. The barrow itself includes an earthen mound which has been created by artificially steepening the sides of the knoll. The resulting change in profile of the slope is visible c.3m-4m below the summit, and the mound itself is roughly circular in plan, with a diameter of 30m. Additional material for the construction of the mound will have been obtained from a surrounding quarry ditch, which is no longer visible at the surface. However, this feature was recorded in 1970 as a shallow depression up to 3m wide, and can be seen as a distinct crop mark on aerial photographs taken in 1989. The monument is one of several bowl barrows in the Clun Valley, at least two of which were developed during the medieval period as motte castles. All these monuments are scheduled separately, the closest being the motte at Buckton, some 3.6km to the south east, SM 27489.

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:

27532

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
The Victoria History of the County of Shropshire: Volume I, (1908), 385
Cross, P, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists Field Club in Aspects of Glacial Geomorphology of Wigmore and Presteigne district, Vol. 39(2), (1966), 198-220

Other
DOE, Buildings of Special Hist & Arch Interest,
SO 37 NE 39, Ordnance Survey, SO 37 NE 39, (1973)
AP CPAT 89/MB/566, 567, 568, (1989)
Richardson, R E, FMW report form, (1981)

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.