Details

The monument includes a levelled Bronze Age bowl barrow on Martin Down. The
site is on the southern side of an east facing dry valley.
The barrow had a mound described as being 8.5m in diameter and 0.3m high in
1956, but recorded on other occasions as being marked by a change in
vegetation only. Surrounding the area of the mound is a ditch from which
material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This has become
infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature c.2m wide. The
overall diameter of the barrow, including the ditch, is 12.5m.
There is no known record of excavation of the barrow, but it is likely that it
was the subject of antiquarian excavation, as were the other barrows on Martin
Down.

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 290m north east of the junction of Bokerley Dyke and a linear
earthwork running to the north east is one of numerous Bronze Age monuments
constructed on Martin Down. These have recently been the subject of a detailed
survey by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England. Despite
the levelling of the barrow mound, the infilled quarry ditch and features
underneath the mound will survive, containing archaeological and environmental
information relating to the construction and use of the barrow.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Bowen, H C, Eagles, B N (ed), The archaeology of Bokerley Dyke, (1990)
Other
SU 01NE 1, (1984)

Source: Historic England