Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows within a barrow cemetery, located on a
spur of gravelly clay above the fens north east of Ramsey. The barrows are
visible as two circular earthen mounds under pasture. The larger of them
stands to a height of 0.65m and covers an area c.35m in diameter. The second
mound lies 8m north east of this and is c.0.5m in height and c.20m in
diameter. It is probable that both mounds are encircled by ditches from which
earth was dug and used in the construction of the barrows, but which have
become completely infilled. These ditches will survive as buried features.
A further five barrows which formed part of the same original cemetery are the
subject of a separate scheduling 300m to the south east.
A boundary fence which crosses the larger barrow east-west is excluded from
the scheduling, although the ground beneath it 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.

The two bowl barrows 320m NNW of Waypost Farm survive well, despite some
disturbance by ploughing in the past, and will retain important archaeological
information, both in themselves and in relation to the barrow cemetery of
which they form a part. Evidence for their construction and the manner and
duration of their use, and for the local environment prior to and during that
time, will be contained in the mounds and in the soils buried beneath the
mounds.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Cameron, Mrs D, (1993)
Cameron, Mrs S, (1993)

Source: Historic England