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A bowl barrow 460m NNW of Ring-in-the-Mire, forming part of a round barrow cemetery on Gittisham Hill

A Scheduled Monument in Honiton, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.7603 / 50°45'37"N

Longitude: -3.2028 / 3°12'10"W

OS Eastings: 315259.510504

OS Northings: 96328.762116

OS Grid: SY152963

Mapcode National: GBR P9.BJQK

Mapcode Global: FRA 4752.J1S

Entry Name: A bowl barrow 460m NNW of Ring-in-the-Mire, forming part of a round barrow cemetery on Gittisham Hill

Scheduled Date: 10 April 1996

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1014248

English Heritage Legacy ID: 27403

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Honiton

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: Gittisham St Michael

Church of England Diocese: Exeter

Details

The Gittisham Hill barrow cemetery is situated in south east Devon, 8km
south of Honiton, on the high ground of an extensive Greensand plateau where
it forms the watershed of the south-flowing River Sid. The monument includes a
single bowl barrow situated within an area of heathland, on the east side of
Gittisham Hill on gently sloping ground.
The barrow consists of a mound of evenly rounded profile, 12m in diameter,
and c.0.9m in height. It does not appear to have been surrounded by a 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

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

The Gittisham Hill barrow cemetery comprises the western area of one of the
most extensive and densest concentrations of barrows in Devon. Limited
archaeological excavations of some of the barrows in this concentration have
revealed that they show a remarkable diversity in size and form, and in the
nature of their funerary contents.
This barrow is one of 13 that form the Gittisham Hill barrow cemetery. It
survives in good condition and will retain archaeological and environmental
evidence relating to its construction and use.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 5-46
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit Report' in Archaeological Survey & Management Study of Areas of E Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993)

Source: Historic England

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