Row Barrow

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1016563
Date first listed:: 19-May-1939

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1016563
Date first listed:: 19-May-1939
Date of most recent amendment:: 19-Mar-1999

Location

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

County:: Devon
District:: East Devon (District Authority)
Parish:: Dunkeswell
National Grid Reference:: ST 13177 05616

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.

Despite evidence for partial antiquarian excavation, Row Barrow survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was built. The fact that the barrow has its own place name indicates that it was recognised as a feature of the landscape in the early historic period. A survey of the Blackdown Hills completed in 1992, recorded some 50 barrows and cairns which together will provide a detailed insight into settlement of the area in the Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age period.

Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow known as Row Barrow, which is situated on a broad flat area of ground on the south side of Long Lane at Dunkeswell Turbury at the southern end of the Blackdown Hills. The land falls away steeply into the upper reaches of the Wolf Valley about 500m south of the barrow. The barrow mound stands about 2m high with a diameter of 31m and is of rounded appearance with a flat top. There is a partly infilled but visible trench 2m wide and 10m long on the south east side of the mound; however, there is no record of excavation and the trench may be the result of antiquarian investigation.

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:: 29674
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Proc Devon Arch Soc' in The Barrows of North Devon, , Vol. 28, (1970), 117

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.