Details

The monument is The Bullstones bowl barrow located on a gently sloping
hillside a little to the east of the summit of Brown Hill. It includes a low
flat earth and stone mound up to 0.25m high with maximum dimensions of 11.5m
by 10m. At the centre of the mound is an upstanding gritstone slab 1.3m long
by 1.1m high. The barrow is surrounded on all sides except the east by a
kerbing of irregularly spaced small water-worn and erratic boulders. Limited
antiquarian investigation located the cremated remains of a child or young
person buried approximately 0.9m below the ground surface and beneath an
inverted urn. Amongst the ashes was a calcined flint knife and a flint
arrowhead. The excavator also recorded a short corridor of stones leading to a
break in the kerbing which he interpreted as an entrance. From the outer
extremities of this entrance, on either side, lines of stones curved outwards
and backwards to the mound, forming a pair of quadrants of sufficient
dimensions to accommodate four or five people standing upright.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 7 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

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. 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 limited antiquarian investigation of the mound and the absence of any
surface remains of the entrance corridor and flanking quadrants recorded by
antiquarian investigators, The Bullstones bowl barrow survives reasonably
well. This investigation located human remains, pottery and flint artefacts,
and further evidence of interments and grave goods will exist within the mound
and upon the old landsurface beneath. Additionally the monument is a rare
example in Cheshire of a bowl barrow possessing external architectural
features.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Sainter, J D, Scientific Rambles Around Macclesfield, (1878), 35-6
Other
Darvill,T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)
Ref. No. SJ96NE1, Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Card, (1964)
SMR No. 1522, Cheshire SMR, The Bullstones, (1989)
To SMR, Wilson, D, (1986)

Source: Historic England