Bowl barrow at Bovey Fir Cross, 500m south of Bovey 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.

The bowl barrow 500m south of Bovey House at Bovey Fir Cross survives as an isolated example of its type in an area where few barrows are recorded. Despite having been reduced by ploughing, it will retain archaeological information about the barrow and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow lying immediately west of the road junction at Bovey Fir Cross south of Bovey House. The barrow is sited on a flat-topped hill which stands in a neck of land between two steep sided valleys about 1.8km inland from the coast. The barrow survives as a rounded mound 1.7m high and 18m in diameter which has been reduced by ploughing. There is evidence of an encircling quarry ditch in the form of a slight depression and an outer lip visible to the south east of the barrow mound. This suggests that a ditch survives as a buried feature. Evidence from early documents and tithe apportionments record the place-names of Bellins-burrow, Balins barrow, and Ballingsborough in the vicinity of this monument.

Excluded from the scheduling is all fencing, 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.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

29656

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), 28

Other
Title: Map in parish file Source Date: 1984 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Bray, M, (1988)

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