Details

This monument includes two bowl barrows situated on a spur between two
unnamed tributaries of the Little Silver Stream. The western barrow has a
diameter of 24.6m and is 1.47m high. The ditch from which material was
quarried during the construction of the mound survives on the western side as
a 1.1m wide and 0.4m deep hollow. Elsewhere it is preserved as a buried
feature. A small crescent shaped portion has been cut from the southern side
of the mound as a result of the construction of a building which itself is no
longer extant.
The eastern barrow lies 27m from the first and survives as a 9.5m diameter
and 0.4m high mound. Its quarry ditch is no longer visible and survives as a
buried feature c.1m wide.

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.

Despite damage to part of the western barrow, the two bowl barrows 100m east
of Catkill Cross survive comparatively well and contain archaeological and
environmental information relating to the monument and its surrounding
landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings' in , , Vol. 28, (1970), 127
Grinsell, L V, 'Proc Devon Arch Soc' in The Barrows of North Devon, , Vol. 28, (1970), 127
Other
MPP fieldwork by H. Gerrard, (1995)
National Archaeological Record, SS72SE4,

Source: Historic England