Three bowl barrows at Green Ore, two 150m south east and one 420m south west of Newlands Farm

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 a small part of one of the barrow mounds having been destroyed and some disturbance to the east side of the mound of another, the three bowl barrows at Green Ore survive well as a group 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 in two separate areas of protection, includes three bowl barrows located at Green Ore at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills. All three barrows in the group are located on relatively high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and only a few kilometers east of the major barrow concentrations at Priddy. The mound of the northernmost barrow, referred to as Fford's or Forge Barrow in boundary charters of the 18th century, has dimensions of 14m in diameter and is up to 2m in height. Part of the mound on the north side of the barrow has been destroyed by the construction of a modern road. The mound of a second barrow located just to the south west of this is 15m in diameter and approximately 1.75m high. A further bowl barrow is located some 400m to the south west at the junction of several fields. It is visible as an irregular mound of 15m diameter and 1m in height. Part of the east side of the mound has been disturbed, probably by the addition of later field and woodland boundaries. In common with other barrows in the area all three mounds are surrounded by ditches from which material was quarried during their construction. Although these are no longer visible at ground level they survive in the form of buried features approximately 2m wide.

All stone boundary walls, 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.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

35301

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, (1971), 100
Grinsell, L, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society in Somerset Barrows, (1971), 115
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of Somerset Archaeological & Natural History Society in Somerset Brrows, Vol. 115 pt 2, (1971), 115

End of official list entry

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