Bowl barrow on Limekiln Hill 500m north of Labour-in-Vain Farm

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1018202
Date first listed:: 19-Dec-1958

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1018202
Date first listed:: 19-Dec-1958
Date of most recent amendment:: 29-Apr-1998

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Dorset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Puncknowle
National Grid Reference:: SY 54465 86847

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 on Limekiln Hill 500m north of Labour-in-Vain Farm is a well preserved example of its class and will contain archaeological remains providing information about Bronze Age beliefs, economy and environment.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated just below the crest of Limekiln Hill 500m north of Labour-in-Vain Farm. The barrow has an irregular, flat-topped mound, 21m in diameter and 1.5m high, which has been disturbed on the sides, possibly by past ploughing, and elsewhere by animal burrowing. There is no clear evidence for the quarry ditch surrounding the mound, although there is a broad surface depression on the north and east sides; it will however survive as a buried feature about 3m wide. A large mound 30m to the north cannot be positively identified as a barrow, nor has its date and nature been ascertained. It is therefore not included in the scheduling.

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:: 31051
Legacy System:: RSM

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.