Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow 30m south of Pain's Farm
Cottages, situated on a gentle south-facing slope, overlooking the River
Swinbrook.
The barrow mound survives as a visible stone and earth mound measuring 16m in
diameter and standing up to 2m high. Its original extent is shown by the
partially reduced spread of stone around its base which has a diameter of 26m.
This mound is surrounded by a quarry ditch from which material was obtained
during its construction. This has become infilled over the years but can be
seen as a darker ring of soil 5m wide around the mound, visible on aerial
photographs, indicating that it survives as a buried feature. The barrow is
shown on an Estate map of 1815 when it was situated in a then much larger Faws
Grove within Wychwood Forest.
Excluded from the scheduling is the post and wire fence around the base of the
upstanding mound, although the ground beneath is included.

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 30m south of Pain's Farm Cottages survives to its original
height and its surrounding quarry ditch, although infilled, is clearly visible
as a soilmark at ground level and on aerial photographs. It does not appear to
have been excavated and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence
relating to its construction and the landscape in which it was built.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Mudd, A, Round Barrows of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, (1983)
Other
Discussion of landuse on site, JEFFERY, P.P., DISCUSSION WITH ESTATE MANAGER MR MATHEWS, (1993)
Observations with A.J. SCHOFIELD IAM, JEFFERY, P.P., On Site Discussion, (1993)
R.C.H.M.(E),
Sketch attached to SM 21786 File, Jeffery, PP, INTERPRETATION OF REMAINS, (1993)
SP 21 SE 15, Ordnance Survey, Bowl Barrow, (1976)
Title: Cornbury Park and Wychwood Forest Estate Map
Source Date: 1815
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
Kept at Park Office & County Records

Source: Historic England