Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated below the crest of a prominent
flat-topped hill 90m south-west of Bicknell Farm.
The barrow has a mound c.2m high and c.26m in diameter surrounded by a ditch,
c.3m wide and c.0.6m deep, from which material was quarried during the
construction of the monument. Partial excavation of the site in 1946 produced
sherds of Iron Age pottery and a cremation burial, confirming that the site
represents a prehistoric burial monument, but suggesting its possible reuse
in the Iron Age period. During the medieval period the mound supported a
windmill.

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.

Despite partial excavation, the bowl barrow 90m south-west of Bicknell Farm
survives well and contains archaeological and environmental information
relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.
Pottery recovered from the barrow suggests that it may have been reused in the
Iron Age period for burial. It was subsequently reused as a windmill mound in
the 13th century AD.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Rahtz, P, M, , 'Proc of Univ Bristol Speleological Society' in Excavation of a Round Barrow SW of Bicknell Farm, Butcombe, Som, , Vol. 2, (1958), 89
Other
Interpretation of excavation results, Interpretation of excavation results,

Source: Historic England