Three bowl barrows 240m south east of Highermoor

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.

The three bowl barrows 240m south east of Highermoor survive well and will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the monument and the surrounding landscape.

Details

This monument includes three bowl barrows in an approximately east to west alignment situated on an upland ridge forming the watershed between the valleys of the River Tamar and the Small Brook. Each barrow includes a mound surrounded by a quarry ditch from which material was derived during its construction. For all except the westernmost barrow, these features are no longer visible but survive as buried features approximately 3m wide. Part of the ditch of the westernmost barrow is visible to the south west where it survives as a 3.1m wide and up to 0.2m deep feature; elsewhere it is buried like the others in the group. The eastern mound measures up to 30.9m in diameter and 1.3m high, and the central mound measures 23.6m in diameter and 1.2m high. The western mound is oval in shape and measures 33.8m long south west to north east by 28.6m wide north west to south east and is 1.3m high. The monument also includes the archaeologically sensitive areas between the barrows, where contemporary flat burials and settlement evidence are likely to occur. The western barrow is partially overlain by a field boundary across its ditch on the north western side. This field boundary is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath 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:

34273

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS20NE505, (1982)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS20NE503, (1982)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS20NE504, (1982)

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