Ancient Monuments

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Bummers Hill: a bowl barrow 135m north-west of Mutfords Cottages

A Scheduled Monument in Hormead, Hertfordshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.9384 / 51°56'18"N

Longitude: 0.0326 / 0°1'57"E

OS Eastings: 539822.603403

OS Northings: 228607.832963

OS Grid: TL398286

Mapcode National: GBR LBG.H1C

Mapcode Global: VHHLD.JJ2W

Entry Name: Bummers Hill: a bowl barrow 135m north-west of Mutfords Cottages

Scheduled Date: 9 August 1965

Last Amended: 10 September 1992

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1009250

English Heritage Legacy ID: 20668

County: Hertfordshire

Civil Parish: Hormead

Traditional County: Hertfordshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Hertfordshire

Church of England Parish: Hormead with Wyddial

Church of England Diocese: St.Albans

Details

Bummers Hill bowl barrow is situated on the north end of a prominent ridge
overlooking the River Quin. The monument includes an earthen mound which
measures 24m in diameter and 2.82m in maximum height. Although no longer
visible at ground level, a ditch, from which material was quarried during the
construction of the monument, surrounds the 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.

Despite tree and scrub growth on the mound, Bummers Hill bowl barrow remains
essentially undisturbed and will retain archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it
was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Paterson, H., Information from Field Monument Warden report AM107, (1982)

Source: Historic England

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