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Two bowl barrows 290m and 375m north of Higher Ennis Farm

A Scheduled Monument in St. Erme, Cornwall

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.3436 / 50°20'36"N

Longitude: -5.0337 / 5°2'1"W

OS Eastings: 184244.499

OS Northings: 53697.439

OS Grid: SW842536

Mapcode National: GBR ZH.2DZ0

Mapcode Global: FRA 08B4.BR4

Entry Name: Two bowl barrows 290m and 375m north of Higher Ennis Farm

Scheduled Date: 12 December 1958

Last Amended: 24 September 1999

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1017050

English Heritage Legacy ID: 32902

County: Cornwall

Civil Parish: St. Erme

Traditional County: Cornwall

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Cornwall

Church of England Parish: St Erme

Church of England Diocese: Truro

Details

The monument includes two prehistoric bowl barrows, situated on the summit
of a ridge south west of Carland Cross. The scheduling is divided into two
separate areas of protection.
The northern barrow has a mound 9m in diameter and 0.7m high, with an
irregular profile: the south and west sides have been cut into, and the top is
uneven, possibly due to stone robbing.
The mound of the southern barrow is 21.5m in diameter and 1m high, with an
irregular rounded profile and a flattened but uneven top. A depression 2m-3m
wide, to the north west of the mound, is considered to be the remains of an
outer ditch. The south eastern edge of the mound has been clipped by the ditch
of a modern field boundary which runs just east of the barrow. A hollow 6m
wide east-west by 4m north-south and 0.8m deep has been cut into the north
western side of the mound. On the south side of this are several large lumps
of concrete. This hollow and concrete are remains of a modern look out tower
which formerly stood on the barrow.
These two barrows are located towards the west of a small barrow cemetery
containing bowl, bell, and platform barrows.

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 two bowl barrows 290m and 375m north of Higher Ennis Farm survive
reasonably well, showing clearly their original bowl barrow forms, and they
remain substantially intact despite some evidence for limited disturbance at
each mound. Their ridge-top location close to a cemetery containing different
barrow forms illustrates well the important role of topography and the
diversity of practices within Bronze Age funerary activity.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Henderson, C, 'Parochial Antiquities' in Parochial Antiquities, , Vol. 3, (1916), 210-211
Prior, R, 'Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall' in Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, , Vol. 13, (1898), 436
Other
Fletcher, M, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1970)
Johnson, N, CAU SMR, (1975)
Saunders, A, AM 7, (1958)
Sheppard, P, AM12, (1980)

Source: Historic England

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