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Latitude: 51.393 / 51°23'34"N
Longitude: -1.9876 / 1°59'15"W
OS Eastings: 400961.643359
OS Northings: 166000.056281
OS Grid: SU009660
Mapcode National: GBR 2TG.NB0
Mapcode Global: VHB48.H7MY
Entry Name: Bowl barrow on King's Play Hill, 420m north of Hill Cottage
Scheduled Date: 20 August 1924
Last Amended: 8 April 1997
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1013361
English Heritage Legacy ID: 12328
County: Wiltshire
Civil Parish: Heddington
Traditional County: Wiltshire
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Wiltshire
Church of England Parish: Heddington St Andrew
Church of England Diocese: Salisbury
The monument includes a bowl barrow set on a prominent hill-top in an area of
undulating chalk downland. The barrow mound is 15m in diameter and 1.5m high.
Although no longer visible at ground level a ditch, from which material was
quarried during construction of the monument, surrounds the mound. This has
become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature c.2m wide.
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
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.
This barrow, one of a pair on the crest of King's Play Hill, 420m north of
Hill Cottage, survives comparatively well and will retain archaeological
evidence for the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.
Source: Historic England
Other nearby scheduled monuments