Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow set on the crest of Kitchen Barrow
Hill with extensive views over the Vale of Pewsey to the south. The
barrow mound is 13m in diameter and 1.5m high. Surrounding the barrow
mound is a ditch, no longer visible at ground level but surviving as a
buried feature c.3m wide.
The mound and ditched area have been the subject of some disturbance
on the west side, caused by the later construction of cross-dykes,
probably in the Iron Age period.

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 significance of the Kitchen Barrow Hill bowl barrow is
considerably enhanced by the presence of numerous barrows and
additional evidence for contemporary settlement in the area of
Bishop's Cannings Down. These provide a clear indication of the
intensity with which the area was settled during the Bronze Age
period. There is no evidence of formal excavation and the site has
considerable archaeological potential.

Source: Historic England