A bowl barrow and ring ditch 700m WNW of Challacombe Cross, forming part of a round barrow cemetery on Horridge Moor

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1015469

Date first listed: 07-Feb-1997

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

National Grid Reference: SS 69999 16163

Summary

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Reasons for Designation

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite ploughing in the past, the bowl barrow on Horridge Moor lying 700m WNW of Challacombe Cross survive comparatively well and contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the barrows and the surrounding landscape. They form part of a round barrow cemetery which includes at least six additional barrows.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

This monument includes a bowl barrow and ring ditch situated in a prominent location on a south east facing ridge overlooking the valley of Huntacott Water. These features form part of a round barrow cemetery which includes at least six additional barrows. The barrow survives as a circular mound which measures 21.8m in diameter and 0.6m high. Aerial reconnaissance has revealed the presence of a double ditch surrounding the mound, giving an overall diameter of 30m. These ditches are preserved as buried features. The ring ditch lies 20m to the north west of the barrow and survives as a 15m diameter circular quarry ditch from which material to build a barrow was derived. The central mound is no longer visible. Two other barrows survive to the west and a further three to the east and these are 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: 28630

Legacy System: RSM

Sources

Other
Devon Air Photo Project Sheet SS6916, (1988)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS61NE49, (1995)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS61NE51, (1995)
MPP fieldwork by H. Gerrard, (1995)

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.