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Bowl barrow 350m north east of The Wreay

A Scheduled Monument in Catterlen, Cumbria

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Coordinates

Latitude: 54.6667 / 54°40'0"N

Longitude: -2.7998 / 2°47'59"W

OS Eastings: 348511.211637

OS Northings: 530477.125453

OS Grid: NY485304

Mapcode National: GBR 8GWG.NW

Mapcode Global: WH813.YYYS

Entry Name: Bowl barrow 350m north east of The Wreay

Scheduled Date: 7 February 1997

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012820

English Heritage Legacy ID: 23767

County: Cumbria

Civil Parish: Catterlen

Traditional County: Cumberland

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Cumbria

Church of England Parish: Newton Reigny St John

Church of England Diocese: Carlisle

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located on the southern edge of a local
high point 350m north east of The Wreay. It includes a slightly oval earthen
mound up to 0.3m high with maximum dimensions of 20m by 18m. A drystone wall
aligned north-south crosses the mound and to the west of the wall there is a
slight circular depression in the barrow's surface suggesting an unrecorded
antiquarian investigation of part of the monument.
The drystone wall is excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath it 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.

Despite minor surface disturbance to the western part of the monument and the
presence of a drystone wall across the centre of the mound, the bowl barrow
350m north east of The Wreay survives reasonably well. It will contain
undisturbed archaeological deposits within the mound and upon the old land
surface beneath. It lies close to two earlier long cairns and demonstrates
changing burial practice during the prehistoric period. Information on its
relationship to those adjacent monuments will be preserved.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Darvill, T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)

Source: Historic England

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