Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on the rounded summit of Gallows
Hill. The barrow mound survives as a substantial circular mound 23m in
diameter and up to 2.3m high on its downslope northern side and 1.6m high on
its uphill southern side. The barrow summit has been disturbed at some time
in the past leaving it slightly hollowed to a depth of 0.3m. There is today
no surface indication of the surrounding ditch from which the material for the
construction of the mound would have been quarried. This however will survive
as a buried feature, the width of which can be estimated as c.3m. The name
Gallows Hill is associated with a place of execution called Gallows Knot which
may represent the site of a gallows where offenders against forest-law were
executed. Several human skeletons are said to have been discovered in a mound
in this area by workmen digging for sand, while ploughing is said to have
revealed human bones including one skull with marks consistent with having
been decapitated by a sword. The mound is reported as serving as a gun
emplacement during World War II.

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 barrow on Gallows Hill survives well as a good example of its class. It
is a notable landscape feature with a long tradition of local lore. Though
the mound has been disturbed at some time in the past it remains largely
intact with good conditions for the survival of archaeological material.
There is also potential for the recovery of environmental evidence relating to
the landscape in which the monument was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
1256.00.000,

Source: Historic England