Round barrow cemetery 470m and 400m north of Pen Hill Farm

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.

Despite the disturbance caused by stone clearance deposits in antiquity, the prehistoric round barrow cemetery, 470m and 400m north of Pen Hill Farm survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument, which lies within two separate areas of protection, includes a prehistoric round barrow cemetery situated on Pen Hill, a long and predominantly south facing hill at the eastern edge of the Mendip Hills. The cemetery includes five bowl barrows and two cairns, all believed to date from the Late Neolithinc to Bronze Age period. It is linear in plan and follows a north east to south west alignment over the broad summit of the hill. The cairns are located in the north eastern part of the site whilst one of the bowl barrows is set a few metres to the south of the northernmost cairn; the other four bowl barrows are located further upslope to the south west. Both cairn mounds have been partly obscured by stone spoil which is thought to come from field clearance. Their original profile is therefore difficult to survey with accuracy. However, they have previously been recorded with maximum dimensions of 13m in diameter and 1.25m in height for the northernmost cairn, and 12m in diameter and 1m in height for the southern cairn, which is located just to the south west of the former. The mounds of three of the bowl barrows, two of which form part of the main group and one of which is located at about 40m to the south of it, are, on average, 21m in diameter and they range in height from 1m to 1.75m. Two other bowl barrows, also forming part of the main group, are on the east and south side, their mounds having previously been recorded as 12m in diameter and 0.45m high, and 10m in diameter and 1.25m high respectively. In common with other barrows in the area, all five bowl barrows are surrounded by encircling ditches from which material was quarried during their construction. These can no longer be seen at ground level having become infilled by agriculture over the centuries, but they survive as buried features of between approximately 1.5m-2.5m wide. All but one of the quarry ditches can be seen on aerial photographs. All fencing and fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features 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:

34867

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeological & Natural History Society in Somerset Brrows, Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Tratman, E K, Proc Univ Bristol Spel Soc in Fieldwork, Vol. 5(1), (1938), 82
Tratman, E K, Proc Univ Bristol Spel Soc in Fieldwork, Vol. 5(1), (1938), 82
Tratman, E K, Proc Univ Bristol Spel Soc in Fieldwork, Vol. 5(1), (1938), 82
Tratman, E K, Proc Univ Bristol Spel Soc in Fieldwork, Vol. 5(1), (1938), 82

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