Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow on the west side of the valley of the
River Onny, between the A49 road and the railway line. The barrow mound
survives as a well defined mound 25m in diameter and up to 1.6m high. The
western side of the barrow has been clipped by the easement for the railway
line. Although the surrounding ditch, from which the material would have been
quarried for the barrow's construction is not visible, one will survive around
the north, east and south of the mound as a buried feature with an estimated
width of 2m. Around the western side the ditch will have been removed by the
construction of the railway line.

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 120m south west of Belair survives well and is a good example
of its class which will contain archaeological evidence relating to the
construction of the barrow and its subsequent use. Environmental evidence
relating to the landscape in which it was constructed will be preserved sealed
beneath the mound and in the ditch fill. It is one of a group of similar
monuments occurring in this vicinity and so contributes valuable information
relating to the land use, social structure and burial practices of the
prehistoric community occupying this area of landscape during the Bronze Age.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
SMR reference 00160, Chitty, L F, (1949)

Source: Historic England