Details

This monument includes a bowl barrow situated within the valley of the River
Yeo. The barrow survives as a large oval mound which measures 34.1m long from
north to south by 28.5m wide from east to west and is 1.35m high. A slight
hollow in the centre of the mound may suggest early part excavation or
robbing. The ditch from which material to construct the mound was quarried,
surrounds the barrow and is preserved as a buried feature c.3m wide. On the
western side the mound has been slightly cut by a field boundary which passes
over it. On the north eastern side a well and small pond have been constructed
which also cut the mound and ditch.
The barrow is part of a larger concentration of funerary and ritual
monuments located around the present day settlement of Bow and many of these
are the subject of separate schedulings.

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 plough damage in the past, the bowl barrow 140m south east of Burston
Cross survives comparatively well and contains archaeological and
environmental information relating to the mound and its surrounding landscape.
This mound forms part of a cluster of funerary and ritual monuments situated
close to the present day village of Bow.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS70SW159, (1994)
MPP fieldwork by H. Gerrard, (1996)

Source: Historic England