Round barrow cemetery 100m south of School Farm

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 linear round barrow cemetery known as Robin Hood's Butts survives well and is a rare example of its class, displaying unusual features in its construction. It forms part of a larger group of round barrows on Brown Down and will contain archaeological deposits and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes five round barrows, together forming a linear round barrow cemetery on Brown Down in the eastern region of the Blackdown Hills. The cemetery forms part of a larger group of round barrows situated on Brown Down, collectively known as Robin Hood's Butts. The five round barrows, following a north to south alignment, include four bowl-shaped barrows and a bell barrow located at the south end of the linear cemetery. The mounds of the bowl barrows have an average diameter of 20m and an average height of 2.2m. The mound of the bell barrow is 28m in diameter, 2.5m high and is surrounded by a level berm up to 10m wide. The barrows are partly enclosed by a single continuous ditch, possibly contemporary, up to 1m deep on the south side of the bell barrow. The remainder of the ditch has become largely infilled, surviving as a shallow depression, between 2m and 4m wide. All fence posts together with a concrete overlow pipe, located on the north west of the site, 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.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

32164

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of Somerset Archaelogical & Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 113, (1969), 37

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