Details

The monument is situated on the shelves south of the Wye Valley on the
limestone plateau of Derbyshire. It has a hilltop location and includes a
roughly circular mound with a diameter of 21m and a height of c.1m. The mound
has been partially robbed for wall stone and was the site of a partial
excavation carried out by Thomas Bateman in 1854. Bateman found a primary
crouched skeleton accompanied by a circular flint artefact, and the disturbed
remains of a number of other burials, some of which had been cremations. A
bronze knife was also found and these remains date the barrow to the Bronze
Age. In addition, a green glass stud and a sherd of red, kiln-baked pottery
indicate that the barrow was re-used at a later date, possibly in the Roman
period. The modern field wall crossing the edge of the monument is excluded
from the scheduling although the ground underneath 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.

Although Bole Hill bowl barrow has been partially excavated and disturbed by
stone-getting, it is still reasonably well-preserved and retains further
significant archaeological remains.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, T, Ten Years Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave-Hills, (1861), 90-91
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire , (1977), 11

Source: Historic England