Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow set on level ground 700m southwest of
Haydon Grange Farm. It comprises a mound 35m in diameter and c.5m high at
its highest point. Although no longer visible at ground level a ditch, from
which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds
the mound. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried
feature c.3m wide. An excavation trench, probably the result of quarrying has
cut into the edge of the mound on the south side. A central depression and a
large excavation trench on the northwest may have been caused by partial
excavation or by quarrying.

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 known as `Stow Barrow' 700m southwest of Haydon Grange Farm
survives comparatively well despite areas of localised disturbance caused by
partial excavation and quarrying. It is likely that the primary burial, the
ditch fills and much of the barrow mound remain intact. The bowl 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 barrow is exceptionally large for the area. Numerous other burial
monuments of the same date also survive in the area. Such evidence gives an
indication of the intensity of occupation and the nature of social
organisation present in the area during the Bronze Age period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Gough, J W, Mendip Mining Laws and Forest Bounds, (1931)
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural Hist Soc' in Somerset Barrows Part II, , Vol. Vol 115, (1971), 123
Hobhouse, E, 'Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological & Nat Hist Society' in Somerset Forest Bounds, , Vol. 37, (1892), 82
Tratman, E K, 'Proc Univ Bristol Spel Soc' in Fieldwork, , Vol. 5 (i), (1938), 82

Source: Historic England