Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located on level ground 350m north west of
Harptree Lodge. It consists of a barrow mound 23m in diameter and c.3m high
at its highest point. A central trench c.0.75m deep which runs across the
barrow mound from north east to south west and a hollow on the north east side
of the barrow may be the result of previous excavation although no details are
known. A ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of
the monument surrounds the barrow mound. Although partially infilled over the
years, it survives as a earthwork c.3m wide and c.0.5m deep on the northern
side of the monument and elsewhere as a buried feature. A drystone wall which
crosses the barrow mound 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 bowl barrow 350m north west of Harptree Lodge survives comparatively well.
Despite an area of localised disturbance caused by previous excavation or
quarrying, it is considered likely that the primary burial, the ditch fills,
and much of the barrow mound will survive intact. The barrow therefore has
potential for the recovery of archaeological and environmental evidence
relating both to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.
The importance of the monument is enhanced by its location in an area which
supports a concentration of contemporary burial monuments, thus giving an
indication of the nature and scale of human occupation during the Bronze Age
period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural Hist Soc' in Somerset Barrows Part II, , Vol. Vol 115, (1971)
Tratman, EK, 'Proceedings of the Univ of Bristol Speleological Society' in Proceedings of the University of Bristol Speleological Society, , Vol. Vol 3(1), (1927)

Source: Historic England