Bowl barrow 380m west of St Michael's Church

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 380m west of St Michael's Church survives largely intact as a prominent landscape feature. Archaeological deposits including human remains will be preserved within and beneath the mound and in the fills of the buried ditch. These will provide valuable evidence relating to the date of construction of the monument, its period of use and the lifestyle and religious practices of its builders. Environmental evidence retained in the same contexts may illustrate the nature of the landscape in which the monument was set.

Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow situated 380m west of St Michael's Church in a prominent location on a broad, low plateau above a tributary of the Barlings Eau. The barrow mound is roughly circular, measuring about 15m in diameter and standing to a height of about 1.3m. The sides slope gently to a flattened summit which has been slightly disturbed by children in recent years. This disturbance resulted in two small hollows but the barrow and its funerary deposits are believed to be otherwise intact. Traces of a partly infilled ditch from which material for the mound would have been quarried, can be seen to the north and south. Elsewhere, ploughing has obscured the ditch circuit but its remains are thought to survive beneath the present ground surface. The barrow's position on the parish boundary suggests that its survival as a significant earthwork is due to its past importance as a territorial landmark.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 5 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:

29744

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
oblique monochrome prints, St Joseph J K, LH 94-5, (1953)

End of official list entry

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