Ancient Monuments

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Bowl barrow 500m south-south-west of Home Farm

A Scheduled Monument in Lower Withington, Cheshire East

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Coordinates

Latitude: 53.2466 / 53°14'47"N

Longitude: -2.2909 / 2°17'27"W

OS Eastings: 380685.976332

OS Northings: 372209.342891

OS Grid: SJ806722

Mapcode National: GBR DZFW.TX

Mapcode Global: WH99G.SN9H

Entry Name: Bowl barrow 500m south-south-west of Home Farm

Scheduled Date: 20 October 1993

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1007386

English Heritage Legacy ID: 22585

County: Cheshire East

Civil Parish: Lower Withington

Traditional County: Cheshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Cheshire

Church of England Parish: Chelford St John the Evangelist

Church of England Diocese: Chester

Details

The monument is a bowl barrow located on flat land 500m south of Home Farm. It
includes an oval turf mound up to 1m high with maximum dimensions of 35m by
31m. Limited antiquarian investigation at the centre of the barrow located an
urn containing human remains. The central area was re-excavated in 1982/3 and
revealed the monument to be of two phases. In the latter phase two pits had
been cut into the subsoil and each surrounded by a ring of stakeholes. Radio
carbon dating of material from one of the stakeholes dated this to around
900 BC. Backfill from the antiquarian investigation produced a volume of finds
including substantial remains of 6 decorated pots, a barbed and tanged flint
arrowhead and a trimming flake from a Neolithic polished axe.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 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.

The monument survives well and is a rare example in Cheshire of a bowl barrow
originally constructed in Neolithic times and re-used during the Bronze Age.
Limited 19th and 20th century excavation of the monument's centre located
human remains, pottery and stone artefacts, and further evidence of interments
and grave goods will exist within the mound and upon the old landsurface
beneath.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Longley, D, Prehistoric Sites in Cheshire, (1979), 33
Other
Darvill,T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)
To SMR, Wilson,D. (Site excavator), (1986)

Source: Historic England

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