Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on the summit of a low, gently
rounded hill with land falling away to the south and west. The mound survives
as a substantial and well defined circular mound 30m in diameter and up to
2.4m high. The top of the mound is flat and level, probably the result of
later modification, with a central depression 2m in diameter and 0.5m deep.
Surrounding the mound is a ditch up to 5m wide and 0.6m deep from which
material for the construction of the mound would have been quarried. The
ditch is well defined around the west, north and south, but is terminated in
the south-east on a low amorphous mound of a later date than the original
period of construction. The ditch is crossed in its south-west quadrant by a
well defined causeway. In its original form the monument represents a burial
monument; however the flattened top and causeway suggest a later modification
and secondary use as a medieval post mill mound.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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 barrow on Church Hill is a good example of its class. The mound, though
modified and disturbed in its central area, survives comparatively well. The
possibility of its later secondary use, as the site of a medieval post mill,
adds to the interest of the monument.

Source: Historic England