Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located at the north-west end of the top
of Musden Low some 50m west of the summit. It survives as a slightly oval
earthen mound up to 1.5m high with maximum dimensions of 22m by 20.5m. A
drystone wall flanked by fences on either side crosses the mound on a
northwest-southeast alignment. North-east of this wall, at the barrow's
centre, is a shallow dished area 0.2m deep that represents an area of
antiquarian investigations. These investigations located a rock-cut pit 0.3m
deep filled with stones and clay, two cremations, a pottery sherd and flint
artefacts.
The drystone wall and its two adjacent fences are excluded from the scheduling
but the ground beneath these features 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.

Despite limited antiquarian investigations at the monument's centre the bowl
barrow 50m west of the summit of Musden Low survives well. These
investigations located human remains and flint artefacts, and further evidence
of interments and grave goods will exist within the mound and upon the old
landsurface.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, , Ten Years Digging (1861), (1861), 164
Bateman, , Ten Years Digging (1861), (1861), 138
Other
Bateman, Desc & Obs Further Discoveries in the Barrows of Derbyshire,
Bateman, Illustrations of Antiquity (Unpub volume of drawings), Sheffield City Museum
Carrington, Barrow Diggers (Unpub MS with letters and notes), 1848,
Carrington, Barrow Diggers (Unpub MS with letters and notes), 1848,
Darvill,T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)

Source: Historic England