Bowl barrow, 240m N of The Kennels

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 bowl barrow 240m north of The Kennels is well preserved and will retain valuable archaeological remains and environmental evidence related to its construction and to the appearance of the landscape in which it was set. The monument may also retain some evidence of later use, particularly during the Anglo-Saxon period when it may have served as a communal meeting place within the tribal territory or hundred.

Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow located to the south of Gilden
Way on the southern outskirts of Old Harlow. It stands on the edge of a slight
plateau overlooking a broad valley to the south west.
The barrow mound is circular in plan and domed in profile, measuring
approximately 25m in diameter and 1.5m in height. The summit, which is
slightly flattened, measures approximately 8m across. The locations of two
minor, unrecorded excavations are marked by a narrow depression ascending the
southern slope and by a small declivity on the summit. The encircling ditch,
from which material would have been quarried for the mound, has long since
been infilled and is no longer visible above ground although it will survive
as a buried feature.
The barrow is reputed to have also served as an Anglo-Saxon moot, or meeting
place, and it is possible that it is the `mound' or `hill' (old English
`hlaew') after which the town of Harlow may be named.

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:

29392

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Reaney, PH, Place names of Essex, (1935), 36
Davison, K, Essex Journal in Ancient Harlow, Vol. 8, (1973), 28
Priddy, D, East Anglian Archaeology in The Barrows of East Anglia, Vol. 12, (1981), 4,18

Other
Schedule entry SM:24858, Cursus south of Gilden Way, Harlow, Essex, (1994)
Schedule entries, SM:20665-7(bowl barrows north and north east of Harlow Hospital), (1993)

End of official list entry

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