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 level ground on
Gittisham Hill.
The barrow consists of a mound of evenly rounded profile, 21m in diameter
and c.1.4m in height. There is no evidence that it was surrounded by a ditch.
Two trenches have been cut into the mound. On the north side there is a trench
aligned east-west, with maximum dimensions of 8m in length, 2m wide, and 0.5m
deep. On the east side there is a similar trench aligned north-south, 4m long,
2m wide and 0.5m deep. The trenches lie at right angles and have the
appearance of World War II Home Guard defences.
An antiquarian investigation in 1869, when a trench was cut through the
mound in an east-west or north east-south west direction, demonstrated that
the barrow is composed of a central mound of black peaty earth or turves
covered with a layer of stones about 1ft (30cm) in thickness, in turn covered
with a layer of dark soil. The finds were few but included burnt bone, flint
flakes, coarse pottery, charcoal, sling stones, and haematite (red ochre). The
excavation trench was evidently back-filled, and does not relate to the
trenches now visible in the mound.

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.
Although partly disturbed by antiquarian investigation, most of the mound
of the bowl barrow remains intact, and will preserve buried features, the old
land surface, and archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its
construction and use.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Fox, A, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Broad Down (Farway) Necropolis, , Vol. 4, (1952), 1-19
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 5-46
Kirwan, R, 'Report of the Transactions of the Devonshire Association' in Notes On The Prehistoric Archaeology of East Devon, Part III, , Vol. 4, (1870), 295-304
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