Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on level ground some 400m east of
the River Ouzel. The barrow mound survives to 22m in diameter and 2m high.
The burial mound has been altered slightly at the north-east by the insertion
of a corner of the tennis court. Material for the construction of the barrow
was quarried from a ditch at the foot of the mound. Over the years this has
become infilled but it was visible in the 19th century and still survives as a
buried feature. The mound is apparently unexcavated but a Bronze Age pottery
incense cup was found in the vicinity. The monument lies within sight of a
second large bowl barrow, to the north-east.
The surface of the tennis court and all fences are excluded from the
scheduling, but the ground beneath 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 minor disturbance, the bowl barrow south of the Knolls is well
preserved and has potential for the recovery of archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which the barrow was
constructed. The importance of the monument is enhanced by its proximity to
another large barrow some 60m to the north-east.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
The Victoria History of the County, (1904)
Thomas, N, 'Bedfordshire Archaeologist' in Bedfordshire Archaeologist, Volume 1. no 3, (1956)
Other
Jones, JB, The Two Knolls, Plantation Road, Leighton Linslade, (1988)
Mr R M Smith, (1991)
reference to unpublished survey data, Coleman, S, (1993)

Source: Historic England