Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated approximately 400m south east of
Moat Farm, standing on the crest of a hill on the parish boundary between
Newton and Walcot. The mound, which is subcircular in shape, measures about
15m in diameter and survives to an average height of 1.2m. The top of the
mound is flat and measures about 10m in diameter. On the north and west sides
of the mound are the remains of a shallow ditch, about 3m in width, from which
material used in the construction of the mound would have been quarried. On
the north side of the ditch is a linear bank representing part of the headland
of a field of ridge-and-furrow cultivation which was laid out against it in
the medieval period. The mound itself may have been reused as the base for a
windmill in the post-medieval period.

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 bowl barrow south east of Moat Farm survives well as a substantial
earthwork feature and represents a good example of the monument type in an
area where the survival of prehistoric features as earthworks is rare. The
association of the barrow with a variety of landscape features, including the
parish boundary and the remains of medieval ridge-and-furrow cultivation,
indicate that it has served as an important landmark for a long period. Its
possible reuse as a mill mound in the post-medieval period would have involved
little alteration, and the monument will thus include intact archaeological
deposits which will provide information relating to the construction of the
mound and to its use in burial rituals over an extended period.

Source: Historic England