Reasons for Designation
The area of the Quantock Hills, although small in extent, is one of the few
remaining expanses of open moorland in southern Britain. Its archaeological
importance lies in the existence of a landscape displaying examples of
monuments tracing the exploitation of the hills from the Bronze Age onwards.
Well-preserved monuments from the Bronze Age and Iron Age, including round
barrows, cairns, settlements, hillforts and a trackway, as well as later
industrial remains, give insights into changes in the pattern of land use on
the hills through time. These earthworks are one of the key components of the
Quantocks' broader landscape character.
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. In excess of 30 bowl barrows can be found on
the Quantock Hills. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major
historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation in
form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the
diversity of beliefs and social organisations among 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 on Black Hill, 590m north west of Crowcombe Park Gate,
survive well both as a discrete group and as part of a wider group of bowl
barrows and cairns on Black Hill and will contain archaeological deposits and
environmental evidence relating to the monument and the wider landscape.
Details
The monument includes three bowl barrows situated on the lower north facing
slope of Black Hill in the western region of the Quantock Hills. They form
outlying members of a dispersed barrow and cairn cemetery and are aligned
broadly from east to west. The diameters of the three barrow mounds are 13m,
5m and 12m and they are approximately 1.5m, 0.5m and 1.2m high respectively.
The mound of the central barrow is slightly irregular in profile.
A concrete gas marker post located on the north east side of the easternmost
barrow mound is 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.
