Two bowl barrows, known as Heath Hill round barrows, 70m and 190m north east of Heath Hill

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 two bowl barrows known as Heath Hill round barrows survive well, and the mounds will contain evidence for primary and secondary burials, along with grave goods which will provide information about prehistoric funerary practices and the size of the local community at that time. The mounds will also preserve environmental information in the buried original ground surface, predating the construction of the barrows and giving an insight into the landscape in which the monuments were set. In addition the mounds and their surrounding ditches will also contain environmental evidence in the form of organic remains, which will relate both to the barrows and to the wider landscape.

Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows aligned north east-south west, located just below the crest of a hill in the Cotswolds and within two areas of protection. The northern barrow mound measures 9.5m in diameter and is 0.2m high, while the barrow mound 130m to the south west measures 10m in diameter and is 0.5m high. Surrounding each mound is a ditch from which material was excavated during the construction of the barrows. These ditches are no longer visible at ground level, having become infilled over the years, but survive as buried features about 2m wide. The wooden fence which runs east-west immediately to the north of the southern barrow is excluded from the scheduling, 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:

32385

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
O`Neil, H E, Grinsell, L V, Proc of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Arch Soc in Gloucestershire Barrows, Vol. LXXIX, (1960), 138

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