Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, situated on the summit of a prominent spur called Shortwood Hill, overlooking the relatively low lying basin surrounding the city of Bristol. The barrow survives as a circular mound measuring approximately 30m in diameter and up to 1.1m high. It is surrounded by a buried quarry ditch, from which the material for its construction was derived.

Sources: PastScape 201277
South Gloucestershire HER 1356 and 18143

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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. 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. Despite past cultivation the bowl barrow 75m north of Gingell's Farm survives well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction, longevity, territorial significance, social organisation, funerary and ritual practices and overall landscape context.

Source: Historic England