Bowl barrow 340m east of The Firs, forming part of a round barrow cemetery at Heathfield

Reasons for Designation

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The bowl barrow 340m east of The Firs, which forms part of the round barrow cemetery at Heathfield, survives well, despite some cultivation and previous excavation. It will contain both archaeological and environmental information relating to the monument and its surrounding landscape. Bowl barrows are the most numerous form of round barrow, with over 10,000 examples recorded nationally. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds each covering single or multiple burials.

Details

This monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a high and prominent upland ridge which acts as the watershed between valleys of tributaries to the River Lyd, the River Burn and the River Lumburn. This bowl barrow forms an outlier to a round barrow cemetery at Heathfield, nine other components of which lie to the east and south east and are the subject of separate schedulings. The monument also straddles a parish boundary. The monument includes a circular mound which measures 22m in diameter and up to 0.7m high. Surrounding the mound is the quarry ditch from which material to construct the mound was derived. This is traceable on the ground and measures up to a maximum of 4.4m wide and 0.1m deep. The mound is largely flat-topped, albeit slightly uneven in appearance with steep sides. Some animal scrapes reveal that the mound is composed of dark gritty loam and small stones. On the western side is a depression which measures up to 2m wide and 0.1m deep which may represent an old excavation trench.

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:

34282

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX47NE5, (1986)

End of official list entry

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