Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, surviving as a low earthwork, set in a
dry valley north of Bishop's Cannings Down. The barrow mound has a diameter
of c.15m and survives to a height of 0.2m. Surrounding the mound is a ring
of darker earth, c.2m wide, indicating the location of the ditch.
The site was partially excavated on several occasions in the 19th century,
revealing a crouched skeleton and beaker-style pottery.

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.

Numerous barrows and additional evidence for contemporary settlement in the
area of Bishop's Cannings Down provide a clear indication of the intensity
with which the area was settled during the Bronze Age period. The importance
of the barrow is considerably enhanced by its association with these
contemporary monuments. Despite partial excavation, much of the site
remains intact including ditch deposits and a buried land surface. It
therefore has considerable archaeological potential in terms of providing
an environmental context for the finds already excavated.

Source: Historic England