Details

The monument includes one of a group of three bowl barrows situated on the
western edge of Shiplate Slait, a carboniferous limestone plateau overlooking
the Somerset Levels.
The barrow has a mound 10m in diameter and c.1.2m high. Surrounding this
mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of
the monument. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried
feature c.2m wide.
Two smaller bowl barrows are located c.60m to the east and all have mounds
composed of small stones. These barrows were first recorded in documents
dating to 1757 and one was partially excavated during the 18th or 19th
century. Finds including skeletons and cremations are reported by Phelps in
1839.
Excluded from the scheduling are the triangulation point and the drystone wall
which crosses the monument but the ground beneath these features 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.

This bowl barrow on Shiplate Slait survives well, being the largest of a group
of three bowl barrows in close proximity. Despite the possibility of partial
excavation, the monument will contain archaeological and environmental
evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was
constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Phelps, , The History and Antiquities of Somersetshire, (1839), 17
Other
Reference to dry stone wall on site,
Reference to the two nearby barrows,

Source: Historic England