Details

This barrow, located 300m north-east of Smerrill Barn, is situated overlooking
Long Dale in the central uplands of the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The
monument includes a sub-circular mound measuring 12m by 10m by c.0.75m high
and may have been the barrow on Smerrill Moor partially excavated by Thomas
Bateman on the 15th June 1857. This, however, is not certain as Bateman's
description of the excavated barrow suggests it was somewhat smaller, being
only 10 yards wide and 18 inches high. The excavated barrow was found to
contain a crouched skeleton, further human bone and a number of flint
implements which assign it to the Bronze Age. The appearance of Smerrill Barn
bowl barrow, and its proximity to others of the same period, suggest that it
too is of Bronze Age date even if it is not the barrow that Bateman opened.

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.

Smerrill Barn bowl barrow is a well-preserved example of a Peak District
barrow which may have escaped excavation in the 19th century and so may
contain rare intact archaeological remains.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, T, Ten Years Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave-Hills, (1861), 104

Source: Historic England