Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a Bronze Age bowl
barrow located 158m above sea level on arable land c.400m WSW of Mount
Pleasant. Although the mound, which is c.25m in diameter, has been degraded by
ploughing, it still stands to a height of 0.5m where it has been protected by
the field boundary which crosses its northern extremity. The degraded portion
of the mound is clearly visible as a soil mark in the field to the south. The
ditch from which material for the construction of the mound was quarried
cannot be seen but is thought to survive buried beneath the present ground
surface.
The monument is situated within 450m of High Street, which follows the route
of a prehistoric trackway. The Neolithic long barrow at Top Buildings to the
south east (scheduled separately) is similarly aligned with High Street and
further prehistoric burial mounds have been documented along the same stretch
of highway.
Two other bowl barrows within 100m of the monument which have been revealed by
aerial photography in the field to the north are the subjects of separate
schedulings.
The field boundary fence and fenceposts are excluded from the scheduling
although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 5 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.

Although the Bronze Age bowl barrow 400m WSW of Mount Pleasant has been
degraded by ploughing, the mound survives as a slight earthwork sealing buried
deposits including funerary remains and the original ground surface. These
remains will provide rare information concerning the monument's construction
and the date and nature of mortuary practices which took place here.
Environmental evidence will also be retained providing information
illustrating the landscape in which the monument was set. The proximity of two
other bowl barrows to the north, and the monument's association with other
burial mounds aligned along the prehistoric trackway now formalised as High
Street indicates the significance of the area during the prehistoric period
and poses wider questions concerning patterns of ritual use and settlement in
this landscape. While the monument is not easily visible from the road, it is
accessible to the public via a bridleway which runs alongside the field
boundary and across the northern extremity of the mound.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
oblique monochrome photograph, Everson, P, 2921/36-7, (1976)

Source: Historic England