Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow which comprises a mound and a surrounding
ditch. The mound measures 17m across and stands to an impressive height of 2m
at the crest. The surrounding ditch, which has been partially infilled by
soil eroded from the mound, is visible as a hollow 3.5m across around the foot
of the mound. It is interrupted by a 4m wide causeway on the western side.
The marked depression in the summit of the mound indicates that the mound was
partially excavated in the 19th century.
The diameter of the mound and ditch together is 24m.

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 the limited damage to the barrow mound caused by partial excavation,
the monument on the western summit of Combe Hill survives well and retains
significant archaeological potential for the recovery of evidence of the
nature and duration of its use and of the environment in which it was
constructed. It also demonstrates the continuity of use of the hilltop after
the abandonment of the nearby Neolithic enclosure.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Darvill, T, Monument Class Description - Bowl barrows, 1988,

Source: Historic England