Three bowl barrows 620m south east of Fordy Bridge

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 three bowl barrows 620m south east of Fordy Bridge survive comparatively well, despite reduction in their heights through cultivation, and for the western barrow, the insertion of a well head. Part excavation of the western barrow indicates that they will all contain archaeological information relating to the construction and use of the monument and also environmental evidence concerning the surrounding landscape.

Details

This monument which is divided into three separate areas, includes three bowl barrows situated on a ridge overlooking the valley of a tributary to the River Exe. The monument survives as three circular mounds of varying size in a linear arrangement aligned roughly east to west. Each mound has a surrounding quarry ditch from which material to construct the barrow was derived, all three ditches survive as 3m wide buried features. The western mound measures 43.4m in diameter and is 1m high, the central mound is 33.7m in diameter and 0.8m high, and the easternmost mound measures 34.8m in diameter and 0.9m high. The western barrow was part excavated in 1869. It now supports a concrete base which measures 6.6m long by 4.1m wide topped by a metal well head. The concrete base and metal well head are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath 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:

32231

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS90SW17, (1991)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS90SW31, (1991)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS90SW44, (1991)

End of official list entry

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