Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a gently sloping south-facing
carboniferous limestone outcrop, 900m south west of Bristol Plain Farm, in an
area of the Mendip Hills.
The barrow has a mound composed of small stones. It has a maximum diameter of
21m and a maximum height of c.0.3m. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from
which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This has
become infilled over the years, but will survive as a buried feature c.2m
wide.
The monument is surrounded by other slight earthworks which are likely to
represent natural outcrops of limestone and the remains of historic quarrying.

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 900m south west of Bristol Plain Farm survives comparatively
well despite the gradual spreading of the mound by cultivation. There are no
records of any excavations at the site and the barrow will contain
archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the
landscape in which it was constructed.
This bowl barrow forms part of a wider group of round barrows which are known
to occur in the area.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society' in Somerset Barrows, , Vol. 115, (1971), 114
Tratman, E K, 'Proc of University of Bristol Speleoloical Soc' in Proc of University of Bristol Speleoloical Soc, , Vol. 3, (1927), 284

Source: Historic England