Ancient Monuments

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Round barrow cemetery on West Burrow Moor

A Scheduled Monument in East Worlington, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.9431 / 50°56'34"N

Longitude: -3.7533 / 3°45'11"W

OS Eastings: 276919.8291

OS Northings: 117420.4572

OS Grid: SS769174

Mapcode National: GBR L4.NYT5

Mapcode Global: FRA 360M.5MN

Entry Name: Round barrow cemetery on West Burrow Moor

Scheduled Date: 13 February 1952

Last Amended: 23 October 1997

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1016215

English Heritage Legacy ID: 30319

County: Devon

Civil Parish: East Worlington

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: East Worlington

Church of England Diocese: Exeter

Details

The monument, which includes seven bowl barrows in six areas of protection,
is located on a high upland ridge in an area known as Burrow Moor. Each barrow
is surrounded by a quarry ditch from which material was derived during its
construction. These ditches are no longer visible but survive as 2m wide
buried features. A possible outlier to this group lies to the west and is the
subject of a separate scheduling.
The seven barrows vary in diameter between 22.6m and 35.6m, and in height
between 0.4m and 1.4m. The barrows are spread over an area of some 600m.

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 round barrow cemetery on West Burrow Moor 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, SS71NE1, (1983)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS71NE16, (1972)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS71NE2, (1983)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS71NE3, (1983)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS71NE4, (1983)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS71NE5, (1987)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS71NE6, (1982)

Source: Historic England

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