Five bowl barrows 270m north of Hare Park Stud

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 barrows 270m north of Hare Park Stud include the most well-preserved examples of a formerly extensive round barrow cemetery, now largely destroyed. They include the only two barrows of which the mounds are still standing. As part of an extensive area of burial mounds upon the chalk grounds of south east Cambridgeshire, this cemetery is one of the most substantial indicators of prehistoric activity in the region and is therefore a focus for the study of prehistoric society. As a result of part excavation during the 19th and early 20th centuries and a geophysical survey in 1989, the remains are quite well understood while significant archaeological deposits have been left intact.

Details

The monument includes a group of five bowl barrows, part of a barrow cemetery, situated on the summit of a west-facing chalk spur at Upper Hare Park. The barrow mounds have been reduced and spread by ploughing and three are no longer visible above ground, although buried remains of all five survive.

The barrows are all situated in the vicinity of Hare Park Stud, between the stud and the A11/A1303 junction. About 500m north of Hare Park Stud is a mound standing to a height of at least 1m and of a circular shape with a diameter of 36m. A second mound approximately 50m north of the stud survives to a height of 0.7m and is approximately 43m in diameter. Both barrows are surrounded by ditches which have become infilled over the years but will survive as buried features. A pair of barrows, in close proximity to one another, are situated 200m and 250m north west of Hare Park Stud. Although the barrow mounds have been reduced by ploughing, their infilled ditches survive defining circular areas 32m and 30m in diameter respectively. The buried remains of the fifth barrow, also surviving as an infilled ditch defining an area 30m in diameter, lie 460m north west of the stud.

In 1989 geophysical survey confirmed the survival of below-ground features including infilled ditches as well as internal features such as post holes and burial pits.

The Hare Park Stud bowl barrows lie within an extensive area of burial mounds scattered upon the chalk grounds of south east Cambridgeshire. In the close vicinity are two further barrow groups, one at Allington Hill and the other 270m north west of Hare Park Stud, which are the subjects of separate schedulings.

The telegraph pole and fencing are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath these features is included.

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:

33341

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Fox, C, Archaeology of the Cambridge Region, (1923), 327-8
Fox, C, Archaeology of the Cambridge Region, (1923), 327
Symonds, J, Tempus Reparatum in Archaeological assessment at Hare Park proposed new development, (1990), 20
Symonds, J, Tempus Reparatum in Archaeological assessment at Hare Park proposed new development, (1990), 20
Symonds, J, Tempus Reparatum in Archaeological assessment at Hare Park proposed new development, (1990), 20
Allix, C, Hughes, T, PCAS in On a Tumulus Recently Explored on Newmarket Heath, Vol. LI, (1908), 314-24
Hughes, T M, Proceesings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society in Abstract of the Preceedings at the Meetings of the Society, Vol. XLV, (1885), ix

Other
No 74, RCHM, NE Cambridgeshire, (1972)
F1 PAS 08-JUN-81, Ordnance Survey , Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigators Comment, (1981)
No 71, RCHM, NE Cambridgeshire, (1972)
RCHM, NE Cambs, (1972)

End of official list entry

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