Bowl barrow on Colaton Raleigh Common, 850m north west of Stowford House

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.

Part of the bowl barrow on Colaton Raleigh Common 850m north west of the Stowford House survives well, while the western portion was excavated in 1930, providing details of the barrow's construction and use. The surviving portion will contain further remains which may serve to enhance our understanding of this barrow and the landscape in which it was built.

Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow situated close to the summit of a south east facing spur and one of a number located in the area on the commons of Colaton Raleigh, Woodbury, Bicton, and Aylesbeare. The western part of the barrow was excavated to ground level but the barrow mound, which has a matrix of large and small pebbles within a dark earth, survives on its eastern side to a height of 0.8m, 5m wide and 10.4m long north-south. The excavation, which took place in 1930, provided detail about the mound's construction: the stony matrix of the mound sealed an ashy clay layer which in turn sealed an off-centre pit which produced a barbed and tanged flint arrowhead and several sherds of pottery.

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:

29649

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society in The Barrows of South and East Devon, Vol. 41, (1983), 32
Carter, G, Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Exploration Society in Unreported Mounds on Woodbury Common, Vol. 2, (1936), 291-94

Other
Probert, S A J, RCHME Field Observation, (1989)

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