Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located 400m north-west of Beechenhill on
the crest of a small hill on a broad undulating ridgetop. It survives as a
flat-topped oval mound up to 0.5m high with maximum dimensions of 12m by 11m.
Limited antiquarian investigations indicate that the barrow is comprised of
earth and stone in its eastern part and earth elsewhere. Finds included two
cremations, pottery sherds and flints, with re-use of the barrow being
attested by finds of a Roman coin, Romano-British pottery, smelted lead and an
iron awl with a wooden handle.

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 limited antiquarian investigation the bowl barrow 400m north-west of
Beechenhill survives reasonably well. These investigations located interments
and grave goods and further similar evidence will exist within the barrow and
upon the old landsurface. Unusually for the Peak District this barrow
exhibits evidence of re-use during Roman times.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, , Ten Years Digging (1861), (1861)
Bateman, T, Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire, (1849)
Other
Bateman, Desc & Obs Further Discoveries in the Barrows of Derbyshire,
Carrington, Barrow Diggers (Unpub MS with letters and notes), 1848,
Darvill,T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)

Source: Historic England