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 once
seasonally flooded and subsequently divided by a series of drains, many of
which have now been filled in. The barrow is the most easterly in a line of
three, 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 barrows.
The barrow 550m south east of Milton Cross sits at the eastern edge of a
field, separated from the Pembridge Road by a hedge. The remains include an
earthen mound, c.22m in diameter and 0.6m 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
nearby drain and field boundaries, the three barrows would have formed a
clearly visible alignment across the flat valley floor. The other barrows are
the subject of separate schedulings (SM27490, SM27505), 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 550m south east of Milton Cross is a well preserved example of
this class of monument. The barrow mound will retain evidence for its method
of construction, which may include more than one phase, and for burials within
it, 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, both during and
subsequent to its construction. The buried ground surface beneath the mound
itself will similarly preserve environmental evidence for the prehistoric
landscape in which it was constructed. The close relationship of the monument
with the two neighouring 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)
Other
H&W SMR Officer, (1995)

Source: Historic England