Details

The monument is a bowl barrow surviving as a low mound, 30m in diameter and
0.3m high, in a ploughed arable field. Despite its low surface profile,
extensive sub surface mound layers and intact funerary deposits are considered
likely to survive. As excavation of a nearby barrow revealed, barrows in this
group were terraced into the slope and have been preserved by subsequent soil
build-up. In addition, there is no visible or recorded evidence that the
barrow has been excavated and the deposits should remain in an intact,
undisturbed state. This barrow is one of a loose cluster of four barrows on a
gentle SW-facing slope near the centre of the area covered by the Upton Pyne
barrow group, which 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.

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 has survived without any recorded previous disturbance, other
than surface ploughing, near the centre of the Upton Pyne barrow group, whose
unusual low-lying position, good overall preservation, and quality of the
dating, constructional and artefactual information already 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), 148-150
Pollard, S H M, Russell, P, 'Proc. Devon Arch. Soc.' in Excavation of Round Barrow 248b, Upton Pyne, Exeter, , Vol. 27, (1969), 49-79
Other
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,
Devon SMR entry for SX 99 NW-118 and -023,
Devon SMR entry for SX 99 NW-123,
Fox, A., South-West England, (1964)

Source: Historic England