Bowl barrow on Thorncombe Hill, 1.07km north east of Paradise Farm

Reasons for Designation

The area of the Quantock Hills, although small in extent, is one of the few remaining expanses of open moorland in southern Britain. Its archaeological importance lies in the existence of a landscape displaying examples of monuments tracing the exploitation of the hills from the Bronze Age onwards. Well-preserved monuments from the Bronze Age and Iron Age, including round barrows, cairns, settlements, hillforts and a trackway, as well as later industrial remains, give insights into changes in the pattern of land use on the hills through time. These earthworks are one of the key components of the Quantocks' broader landscape character. 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. In excess of 30 bowl barrows can be found on the Quantock Hills. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations among 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 Thorncombe Hill survives as a good example of its type, seemingly without antiquarian investigation, and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the barrow's structure, period of construction and environmental conditions.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow on the hill top plateau of Thorncombe Hill on the sandstone ridge of the Quantocks. The barrow has a low symmetrical mound of 7.5m diameter, and is 0.45m high. It was first noted by L V Grinsell in 1961.

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:

29351

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of the Smerset Archaeological and Nat.Hist Society in Somerset Barrows Part 1, Vol. 113, (1969), 27

End of official list entry

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