Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow, situated above a south west
slope on a ridge east of Carland Cross. The barrow has a mound 17m in
diameter and rises to 2.3m high. The mound has been truncated and reduced
slightly on the SSW where it forms part of a wide roadside verge, running down
to the road in an irregular stepped slope. The mound is also truncated around
the north, where its cut edge is retained by a curving modern hedgebank; the
rounded top of the mound rises from the south of the retaining hedgebank. The
monument is closely associated with a group of barrows along the ridge top
which is the subject of a seperate scheduling, and together they form a small
prehistoric barrow cemetery.
The modern road surface to the south of the barrow is excluded from the
scheduling, although the ground beneath is included.

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 570m south of Mitchell Farm survives reasonably well, the
rounded profile of the upper part of its mound being clearly visible. Although
the mound has been slightly truncated to the SSW and north, it remains
substantially intact, as will the underlying old land surface and any
surviving original deposits associated with the mound and old land surface.
Its location adjacent to a ridge top barrow cemetery, illustrates well the
important role of topography in Bronze Age funerary activity.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Henderson, C, 'Parochial Antiquities' in Parochial Antiquities, , Vol. 3, (1916), 209
Other
Fletcher, M, Ordnance Survey Index Card, (1970)
Letter 43, Thomas, R, Letter to the West Briton, (1850)
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Map
Source Date: 1879
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England