Details

Blake Low bowl barrow is situated on Longstone Edge on the limestone plateau
of Derbyshire. The monument includes a sub-circular cairn measuring 15.5m by
11.5m by c.0.5m high. At some time in the past, probably in the early
nineteenth century when the plantation around the barrow was planted, the
surface of the barrow was robbed of its stone for wall building. Prior to
this it would have stood somewhat higher and probably been more uniformly
circular.
A partial excavation carried out in 1848 by Thomas Bateman revealed a shallow
rock-cut grave at the centre of the barrow which contained the contracted
skeleton of an adolescent girl, the bones of a younger child, a beaker and an
antler tine. Nearby was a stone cist that held the remains of six
inhumations, a number of flint implements and an urn. These discoveries
indicate a Bronze Age date for the barrow. Excluded from the scheduling are
the telegraph pole and its stays at the centre of the monument but 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 the centre of Blake Low bowl barrow has been disturbed and the
surface of the cairn has been robbed of its stone, the rest of the barrow is
still reasonably undisturbed and the barrow will contain further
archaeologically significant remains.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Barnatt, J, The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989), (1989)
Bateman, T, Ten Years Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave-Hills, (1861), 40-41
Marsden, B M, The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire , (1977), 39

Source: Historic England