Eastcombe bowl barrows, 230m and 335m west of Nash End Farm

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.

The two barrows west of Nash End Farm survive reasonably well in an area of considerable prehistoric activity with another barrow to the east and the site of a barrow to the south. Their mounds will contain evidence for primary and secondary burials, along with grave goods, which will provide information about prehistoric funerary practices and the local community at that time. The barrow mound will also preserve environmental information in the buried ground surface providing evidence for the landscape at the time of the barrows construction. In addition, the mounds and their surrounding ditches will contain environmental evidence in the form of organic remains, which will relate both to the barrows and the wider landscape.

Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows aligned north east - south west on a hillside in the Cotswolds and within two areas of protection. The southern barrow lies on the crest of the hill, while the other lies just below the crest. The southern barrow measures 15m in diameter and about 0.4m in height. The barrow to the north east has a mound which measures 12m in diameter and 0.5m high. Surrounding each barrow mound is a ditch from which material was excavated for their construction. These ditches are no longer visible at ground level, but have survived as buried features about 2m wide. The remains of the stone field wall which originally ran north west to south east across the north eastern barrow are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it 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:

32359

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
O`Neil, H E, Grinsell, L V, Proc of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Arch Soc in Gloucestershire Barrows, Vol. LXXIX, (1960), 103-4

End of official list entry

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