Details

Galley Low bowl barrow is a roughly circular cairn situated on Brassington
Moor in the south-eastern uplands of the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The
monument includes a mound measuring 31m by 28m by c.2m high and the
surrounding construction ditch which is buried beneath accumulated soil.
Originally the barrow was somewhat larger, its edges having been reduced by
agricultural activity. In addition, the mound has been partially disturbed by
excavations carried out by Thomas Bateman in 1843 and 1844. During these
excavations, the barrow was found to contain at least eight adult and child
skeletons, including one associated with a cremation on a flat stone and
another with a pottery food vessel. These and other objects date the barrow
to the Bronze Age, during which time it had an extended period of use. In
addition, iron rivets and arrowheads, a glazed pot-sherd and a seventh century
necklace indicate the re-use of the barrow in the Anglian period. Bateman's
account of his excavations also indicates that, in the late eighteenth
century, a second smaller ditched cairn lay adjacent to Galley Low on its
south side. Insufficient is known about the location and condition of this
second barrow, however, and it has not been included in the scheduling.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 4 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.

Although Galley Low bowl barrow is somewhat degraded by ploughing and has been
disturbed by partial excavation, it is still an impressive and reasonably
well-preserved example and retains sufficient intact deposits to be considered
of national importance.

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)
Bateman, T, Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire, (1849), 37-39
Bateman, T, Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire, (1849), 53-4
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire, (1986), 24
Fowler, M J, 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' in The Anglian Settlement of the Derbys-Staffs. Peak District, , Vol. 74, (1954), 146-7
Manby, T G, 'Derbyshire Archaeological Journal' in Food Vessels of the Peak District (1957), , Vol. 77, (1957), 1-29

Source: Historic England