Details

Hoon Mount bowl barrow is located in a commanding position on the summit of
Hoon Ridge. The monument includes a large earthen mound and the platform on
which it stands. The platform is sub-rectangular and measures approximately
22m along the east side, 30m along the north side, 27m along the west side and
25m along the south side. It stands c.1m high and a 2m wide ditch flanks it
along the east side. Along the south side are a number of hollows which,
together with the ditch, show the site of the hedge enclosure which formerly
surrounded the platform. The mound is c.3m high and has a diameter of roughly
23m. No excavation of the monument has been carried out and so it cannot be
precisely dated. However, its form and location assign it to the Bronze Age
or, possibly, to the Anglian period. The trig point on the summit of the
barrow, and the fencing and hedge boundaries along the north and west sides of
the platform, are 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.

Superficially similar in form to prehistoric bowl barrows are hlaews of
Anglo-Saxon or Viking date. These burial monuments were constructed during the
pagan Saxon and Viking periods for high-ranking individuals, and are much
rarer than prehistoric bowl barrows with only 50 to 60 recognised examples in
the country. They served as visible and ostentatious markers of the social
position of their occupiers and some appear to have been specifically located
to mark territorial boundaries. Hoon Mount is a large and well-preserved
example of a bowl barrow which has not been excavated or disturbed by past
agricultural practices, and so contains rare intact archaeological remains
which will include evidence of the barrow's origins. Its location on a
platform is an unusual feature and illustrates well the diversity of both
classes of monument.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Cameron, K, The Place Names of Derbyshire, (1959), 29, 573
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire , (1977), 62

Source: Historic England