Lumber Hill bowl barrow, 720m ENE of Chippenham Stud

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.

Lumber Hill bowl barrow, 720m ENE of Chippenham Stud, which survives as a slight earthwork, is well-preserved and appears to be unexcavated. It will contain a wealth of archaeological evidence relating to activity on the site, the manner and duration of use of the barrow, its construction, and the landscape in which it was set. The monument is rare in being one of the few remaining barrows from an extensive and dispersed round barrow cemetery, which has largely been destroyed by ploughing.

Details

The monument includes Lumber Hill bowl barrow, which is situated 720m ENE of Chippenham Stud, and occupies the highest point in a fairly level landscape. It lies within an extensive area of burial mounds scattered across the high chalk grounds of south east Cambridgeshire and north Hertfordshire. Approximately 3km to the south lies a cluster of barrows, the Chippenham barrow group, which are subject to separate schedulings.

The mound of the barrow in this scheduling, which now stands 0.5m high, has been partly levelled by ploughing and covers an area of approximately 45m in diameter. Its original diameter was probably about 40m, as a 1968 survey suggests. The encircling ditch has become infilled over the years, and is covered with the spread remains of the mound. It is thought to measure approximately 4m wide by comparison with examples excavated elsewhere in the region.

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:

33372

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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