Details

The monument is a bowl barrow which survives as an earthen mound, 40m in
diameter and 2m high, though it has been markedly truncated by plough-damage
across its NW edge. There is no visible or recorded evidence that this barrow
has been excavated. The barrow stands on a gentle SW-facing slope in the
floor of an alluvial basin, and is crossed slightly NW of its centre by a NE-
SW hedge-bank separating two arable fields and followed by the Upton
Pyne/Brampford Speke parish boundary. This barrow is one of a well-spaced
barrow group and is located 100-120m from its nearest neighbour, near the
centre of the area covered by the Upton Pyne barrow group. This group
comprises over thirty recorded barrows dispersed about a low-lying alluvial
basin north of the confluences of the River Exe with the Rivers Culm and
Creedy. Within the overall group, barrows occur both as isolated examples and
forming localised clusters. Grave goods and a radiocarbon date derived from
the few partly excavated barrows in the group indicate burials during the
early and middle Bronze Age (around 2000 - 1000 BC). All of the upstanding
barrows in this group present the appearance of unditched bowl barrows, the
absence of ditches being supported by air photographic evidence and confirmed
for all examples that have been excavated. The modern hedge crossing the
barrow is excluded from the scheduling but the land beneath, including the
hedge-bank, 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.

This bowl barrow is one of the largest and best-preserved examples in the
Upton Pyne barrow group; each excavation of other members of this group has
indicated an excellent preservation of constructional and funerary evidence,
sometimes coupled with a rich array of grave goods; the absence of previous
disturbance to this barrow gives a high expectation that a similar quality of
information survives intact at this monument. The unusual low-lying position
of the Upton Pyne barrow group, its good overall preservation, and the quality
of the dating, constructional and artefactual information that it has
produced, have all resulted in its frequent mention in national reviews of
Bronze Age funerary monuments.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Todd, M, The South-West to A.D. 1000, (1987), 148-50
Other
AM7 entry for DV 248a,
Devon SMR entries for SX 99 NW-026, -027 and -052,
Devon SMR entries for SX 99 NW-119 and -120,
Devon SMR entry for SX 99 NW-021,
Fox, A., South-West England, (1964)

Source: Historic England