Ancient Monuments

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Bowl barrow on Wadland Down

A Scheduled Monument in Beaworthy, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.7399 / 50°44'23"N

Longitude: -4.104 / 4°6'14"W

OS Eastings: 251633.337022

OS Northings: 95471.66875

OS Grid: SX516954

Mapcode National: GBR NY.2MNJ

Mapcode Global: FRA 2794.0Y6

Entry Name: Bowl barrow on Wadland Down

Scheduled Date: 7 February 1997

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1015470

English Heritage Legacy ID: 28631

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Beaworthy

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: Northlew St Thomas of Canterbury

Church of England Diocese: Exeter

Details

This monument includes a bowl barrow situated on Wadland Down on a prominent
upland ridge between the valleys formed by two unnamed tributaries of the
River Lew. The monument survives as a circular mound measuring 18.7m in
diameter and 1.25m high. The ditch from which material to construct the mound
was quarried, surrounds the barrow and is preserved as a buried feature c.2m
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 limited plough damage and forestation of the surrounding area, the
bowl barrow on Wadland Down survives comparatively well and contains
archaeological and environmental information relating to the monument and its
surrounding landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX59NW1, (1984)
MPP fieldwork by H. Gerrard, (1995)

Source: Historic England

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