Details

The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a Bronze Age bowl
barrow situated on level ground within the flood plain of the River Teme.
Other similar monuments were built within the valley, either close to the
river or on the valley sides, however the majority of those built in the flood
plain have been severely damaged by ploughing or have been eroded by the
river.
The barrow has an oval mound measuring 19m north-south and 15m east-west. This
was orginally circular with a diameter of about 15m. It survives to a height
of 1.2m and is composed of earth and riverine gravels. Partly embedded in the
top of the mound are the remains of a cist (a stone slab coffin), which
measures 1.5m by 1m. All four sides of the cist survive but the covering slab
has been removed. The height of the cist within the mound would suggest that
it was not for the primary burial, but a later insertion.
Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch from which material was
quarried during the construction of the barrow, surrounds the mound. This
has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature
approximately 3m 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.

The bowl barrow 300m south of Skyborry is a well-preserved example of this
class of monument. The barrow mound will retain evidence for its method of
construction as well as the burial or burials within it. These remains will
advance our understanding of Bronze Age society, including the ritual
practices and technical abilities of the people who constructed the barrow.
The accumulated ditch fills will preserve environmental evidence for
activities which took place at the site during the construction of the barrow,
and its subsequent use. In addition, the buried ground surface beneath the
mound will preserve evidence for the prehistoric landscape in which the barrow
was built.

Source: Historic England