Details

Rolley Low bowl barrow is located west of Longstone Moor on the limestone
plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes a sub-circular bowl barrow
measuring 26m by 23m by c.2m high. It may have been the barrow on Wardlow
Common partially excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1844 but this has not been
verified. Its form and location, and its proximity to other examples of this
class of monument, indicate a Bronze Age date. The field walls crossing the
top and east side of the monument are excluded from the scheduling but the
ground underneath 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.

Although it may have been disturbed by partial excavation, Rolley Low bowl
barrow is a well preserved example containing significant areas of intact
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)
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire , (1977)
Manby, T G, 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' in Food Vessels of the Peak District (1957), , Vol. 77, (1957)

Source: Historic England