Summary

Five bowl barrows 285m north-west of Middle Barn Farm.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 1 July 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records. As such they do not yet have the full descriptions of their modernised counterparts available. Please contact us if you would like further information.

This monument includes five bowl barrows situated on the upper southern slopes of a spur of North Hill Down forming the eastern valley side of the River Avon. The barrows survive as circular mounds surrounded by partially buried quarry ditches from which the construction material was derived. The barrow mounds range in size from 8m up to 17m in diameter and from 0.3m up to 0.9m high with partially visible ditches of from 2m up to 3m wide and from 0.3m up to 0.5m deep. The group were excavated by Duke and produced mixed results: two contained primary cremations in large urns; one a simple cremation; another a primary urned cremation with two associated cups and the decorated lid of one of these cups is now housed in the British Museum; whilst the remaining barrow produced no significant recorded finds.

Further archaeological remains survive in the vicinity some are scheduled separately but others are not included because they have not been formally assessed.

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 partial early excavation the five bowl barrows 285m north west of Middle Barn Farm survive comparatively well and will retain further archaeological and environmental evidence relating to their construction, relative chronologies, territorial significance, social organisation, ritual and funerary practices and overall landscape context.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PastScape 218520
Wiltshire HER SU13SW606, SU13SW607, SU13SW608, SU13SW609 and SU13SW610

Source: Historic England