Bell barrow on Blackhill Clump 470m north of Mintern's Ferry

Reasons for Designation

Bell barrows, the most visually impressive form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 1500-1100 BC. They occur either in isolation or in round barrow cemeteries and were constructed as single or multiple mounds covering burials, often in pits, and surrounded by an enclosure ditch. The burials are frequently accompanied by weapons, personal ornaments and pottery and appear to be those of aristocratic individuals, usually men. Bell barrows (particularly multiple barrows) are rare nationally, with less than 250 known examples, most of which are in Wessex. Their richness in terms of grave goods provides evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst early prehistoric communities over most of southern and eastern England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a particularly rare form of round barrow, all identified bell barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.

Depsite some quarrying around the periphery, the bell barrow on Blackhill Clump survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a bell barrow situated on a knoll known as Blackhill Clump, overlooking the Piddle Valley to the south west. The barrow is situated 500m south east of the broadly contemporary round barrow cemetery on Blackhill. The barrow has a central mound composed of sand, earth and turf with maximum dimensions of 20m in diameter and c.1.5m in height. The mound is surrounded by a berm or gently sloping platform 8m wide, and by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This has become infilled, but will survive as a buried feature 3m wide. There are fragmentary remains of a bank c.0.2m high around the edge of the berm to the north east and across the buried ditch in the north west. This is likely to represent the remains of a tree ring enclosure which has since been disturbed by gravel workings.

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:

29052

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
RCHME, National Monuments Record,
RCHME, National Monuments Record,
Association of ditch with quarrying, RCHME, National Monuments Record,

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