Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a bowl barrow,
situated on a level floodplain north of the River Arrow. The land was
seasonally flooded and subsesquently divided by a series of drains, many of
which have now been filled in. The barrow is in the middle of a line of three
similar examples, extending WSW-ENE. A section of Rowe Ditch stretches north-
south across the valley for c.800m, passing 250m west of the most westerly of
the group. The remains of this middle barrow include an earthen mound,
circular in form, and c.24m in diameter by c.0.7m high. Material for the
construction of this mound will have been obtained from a surrounding ditch
which is now completely infilled. Before the advent of ploughing and the
construction of the nearby drains and field boundaries, the three monuments
would have formed a clearly visible alignment across the flat valley floor.
The other two barrows are the subject of separate schedulings (SM27490,
SM27506), as is the Rowe Ditch.

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.

The bowl barrow 490m south east of Milton Cross is a well preserved example of
this class of monument. The barrow mound will retain evidence for its method
and phases of construction and for the burial or burials within, enhancing our
understanding of the technology, social organisation, and beliefs of its
builders. The accumulated ditch fills will contain environmental evidence of
activity at and around the barrow, during its initial construction and
subsequent periods, including any reuse or refurbishment. The buried ground
surface beneath the mound itself will similarly preserve environmental
evidence for the prehistoric landscape in it was constructed. The close
relationship of the monument with the two neighbouring barrows enhances
interest in the individual monuments, and in the group as a focus of burial
activity which may have continued over a prolonged period.

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, (1994)

Source: Historic England