Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a bowl barrow
situated on a gentle south facing slope in the floodplain of the River Lugg,
and 400m from the river itself. The barrow sits in an arable field. The
remains include an earthen barrow mound of circular form, c.35m diameter and a
maximum of c.0.5m high. Material for the construction of the mound will have
been obtained from a surrounding ditch, which is no longer visible on the
surface. A barrow of similar diameter is situated in pasture 280m south east
of the monument, and is the subject of a separate scheduling. A cup and ring
marked stone was moved from this field to the corner of an adjacent field in
1972. It is not included in the scheduling.

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 having been ploughed for a number of years, the bowl barrow 445m south
west of Lower Court remains a well preserved example of this class of
monument. The mound will retain details of its method of construction, as well
as evidence for the burial or burials within. This will aid our understanding
of the technology and burial practices of its builders. The deposits which
have accumulated in the ditch will preserve environmental evidence of the
continued activity at the monument and of the prehistoric landscape in which
it was constructed. Similarly, the buried ground surface under the mound
itself will preserve indicators of this ancient landscape. The barrow is in
close proximity to another barrow and a cup and ring marked stone, and this
association enhances interest in the individual monuments.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Watson, M D, 'Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Soc' in Ring-Ditches of the Upper Severn Valley, , Vol. 67, (1991), 9-14
Other
H&W SMR Officer, (1995)

Source: Historic England