Bowl barrow 250m south east of Tyning's Farm: part of the Tyning's Farm round barrow cemetery

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1015815
Date first listed:: 19-Jul-1933

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1015815
Date first listed:: 19-Jul-1933
Date of most recent amendment:: 08-Apr-1992

Location

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

District:: Somerset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Cheddar
National Grid Reference:: ST 47085 56283

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.

The bowl barrow 250m southeast of Tyning's Farm survives comparatively well despite an area of localised disturbance caused by partial excavation and spreading of the barrow mound by cultivation. It contains archaeological and environmental evidence relating both to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. The importance of the monument is enhanced by its position in a round barrow cemetery and by its association with other contemporary burial monuments in the area. Such evidence gives an indication of the intensity of occupation and the nature of social organisation present in the area during the Bronze Age period.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, part of a dispersed round barrow cemetery, located on level ground 250m south east of Tyning's Farm. It consists of a barrow mound 15m in diameter and c.0.25m high at its highest point. The barrow mound has been spread by cultivation. Although no longer visible at ground level a ditch, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds the barrow mound. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature c.3m wide. The barrow was partially excavated by R.F.Read in 1924 and by H.Taylor in 1932. Finds from the excavations included a cremation burial, contemporary with the construction of the monument, placed with a slate whet stone in a central pit c.0.5m in diameter and 0.15m deep surrounded by a circle of stones beneath a small cairn. A second burial of an adult female and a child of c.3 years old was placed beneath an inverted ceramic urn which also contained jet beads, segmented faience beads and a bronze awl.

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:: 13879
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural Hist Soc' in Somerset Barrows Part II, , Vol. Vol 115, (1971), 96
Read, R F, 'Proceedings of the Univ of Bristol Speleological Society' in Excavation Of Mendip Barrows, , Vol. Vol 2, (1924), 143-6
Taylor, H, 'Proceedings of the Univ of Bristol Speleological Society' in Tyning's Farm Barrows: Third Report, , Vol. 6(2), (1951), 128-9
Tratman, E K, 'University of Bristol Speleological Society' in Barrow Catalogue, ()
Other
Porter, D K and Austin, L, (1991)

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 Culture, Media and Sport.