Details

The monument is a bowl barrow located in the southern part of Osmaston Fields
which is situated on the southern ridges of the Derbyshire Peak District. It
includes a large sub-circular mound and also the surrounding construction
ditch which is buried beneath accumulated soil. The mound measures 50m by 45m
by c.4m high and is one of a number of barrows to be found in this region,
some of which have been partially excavated and found to contain Bronze Age
remains. Although there has been no recorded excavation carried out at this
particular example, a Bronze Age date has been assigned to it.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 5 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.

Osmaston Fields south bowl barrow is very well-preserved and unusual in the
Peak District in that it has not been excavated and so will retain significant
intact archaeological remains.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire, (1986), 81

Source: Historic England