Details

The monument is located in the central uplands of the limestone plateau of
Derbyshire and is a bowl barrow which includes a sub-circular 1m high mound
measuring 13m by 8.5m in diameter. Originally the barrow would have been more
uniformly circular with a diameter of c.10m, but the profile has been altered
by past agricultural activities. A partial excavation of the site was carried
out by William Bateman and Mitchell in 1825 when a limestone cist or grave was
revealed and found to cover a pit in the old land surface which contained the
remains of two cremation burials and an inhumation. Accompanying these burials
was a collared urn and a smaller vessel known as a pygmy cup. Further human
and animal bones were found in the mound above the cist in addition to quartz
pebbles, a whetstone and a bronze pin. These remains date the barrow to the
Bronze Age.

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.

Although Larks Low bowl barrow has been partly excavated and disturbed by past
agricultural practice, it still survives reasonably well and retains further
significant 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, Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire, (1849), 33

Source: Historic England