Bowl barrow, the westernmost of six in West Wood

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.' Their ubiquity and their tendency to occupy prominent locations makes them 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 organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. Despite the loss of part of the westernmost barrow in West Wood through silvicultural activities, It still retains significant archaeological potential. It is also one of a group of similar monuments which illustrate the importance of the area for burial in the Bronze Age.

Details

This example is the westernmost of the group in West Wood. The monument includes a barrow which comprises an earthen mound and an encircling ditch. The mound measures some 18m across, although it has been truncated in the course of arboricultural activities, particularly on the eastern side. It survives to a maximum height of 1.7m. The ditch is visible only as a slight depression some 2m across. It lies at a distance of between 3-7m from the present foot of the mound owing to the removal of some of the mound material, but would originally have bordered the foot of the mound. It was dug to provide the material with which to construct the mound. The mound and ditch together have a diameter of 21m.

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:

12813

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Spurrell, F, Arch Journal in Arch Journal, Vol. 40, (1883), 292

Other
Darvill, T, MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Bowl Barrows (1988), (1988)

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