Ancient Monuments

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Bowl barrow 520m south-east of Red Quar Farm

A Scheduled Monument in Chewton Mendip, Somerset

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.2623 / 51°15'44"N

Longitude: -2.6241 / 2°37'26"W

OS Eastings: 356551.007641

OS Northings: 151646.623059

OS Grid: ST565516

Mapcode National: GBR MP.0P0W

Mapcode Global: VH89L.GJMN

Entry Name: Bowl barrow 520m south-east of Red Quar Farm

Scheduled Date: 19 July 1933

Last Amended: 15 November 1993

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1008082

English Heritage Legacy ID: 13882

County: Somerset

Civil Parish: Chewton Mendip

Traditional County: Somerset

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Somerset

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located on the top of a hill 520m
south-east of Red Quar Farm. It is visible as a barrow mound 18m in diameter
and c.1m high at its highest point. The barrow mound has been spread by
previous cultivation. Although no longer visible at ground level a ditch,
from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument,
surrounds the barrow mound. This has become infilled over the years but
survives as a buried feature c.3m wide.

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 bowl barrow 520m south-east of Red Quar Farm survives comparatively well
and, despite spreading of the barrow mound by previous cultivation, contains
archaeological and environmental evidence relating both to the monument and
the landscape in which it was constructed.
The monument is associated with a second barrow to the north-west and survives
in an area which contains a concentration of contemporary burial monuments,
thus giving an indication of the nature and scale of human occupation during
the Bronze Age period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural Hist Soc' in Somerset Barrows Part II, , Vol. Vol 115, (1971), p. 99
Tratman, E K, 'University of Bristol Speleological Society' in Barrow Catalogue, ()

Source: Historic England

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