Bowl barrow in the garden of Beechbarrow

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.

Despite disturbance to the mound by a cluster of mature beech trees, the bowl barrow in the garden of Beechbarrow survives well and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow situated in the south east corner of the garden at Beechbarrow, located on high ground at the eastern edge of the Mendip Hills. The mound of the barrow is slightly irregular in plan with an approximate diameter of 20m and a maximum height of 2m. The barrow was identified by an early 20th century field worker as a possible bell barrow with an off-centre mound surrounded by a level berm. It is now considered more likely that the barrow was a bowl type and its original profile had been disturbed by the planting of beech trees on and around the mound which created the spurious impression of a bell barrow. In common with other barrows in the area, the mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This has become infilled over the years but is likely to survive as a buried feature up to 2.5m wide.

All fencing and fence posts are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

34864

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 115, (1971), 117
Tratman, E K, Proc Univ Bristol Spel Soc in Fieldwork, Vol. 5(1), (1938), 82

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