Details

The monument, which falls into eight areas, includes a round barrow cemetery,
in which some of the barrows are arranged in a linear formation, some are
clustered in groups or pairs, and others are relatively isolated. The barrows
occupy a position on the 1km square expanse of Broad Down, above the River
Sid, towards the southern end of the Greensand plateau which stretches from
the Blackdown Hills to the South Devon coast; they represent the southernmost
barrows within the Farway/Gittisham/Broad Down Bronze Age necropolis.
The barrows survive as earthworks and below ground remains recorded over the
years by way of excavation, field observations and survey. Some of the barrows
retain clearly visible mounds whilst others have been levelled by cultivation.
The focus of the cemetery in terms of its visual aspect is provided by a group
of seven bowl barrows in linear formation aligned north-south over a distance
of 220m with no more than 35m between any two of the mounds. All of these
barrows, with the exception of the southernmost, lie north of the east-west
road which bisects Broad Down. The three northernmost barrows of the linear
group all have visibly defined mounds and have not suffered from the same
degree of ploughing as others in the group, although one of them has a deep
unfilled antiquarian excavation trench running across it. The remainder have
been reduced in height whilst the rim of the southernmost barrow is barely
visible at ground level. The height of the mounds within the linear group
varies between 0.15m and 1.5m and their diameter varies between 12.5m and
27m; at least one of the group was found to have had a surrounding quarry
ditch and was reported in excavation as having an overall diameter of 36m.
To the west of the linear group, in a field known as Seven Barrow Field, is a
further group of at least six barrows clustered close together but in no
obvious formation. The height of the barrow mounds in Seven Barrow Field
varies between 0.2m and 1.7m which represents the highest survival in the
cemetery as a whole. The diameter of their mounds varies between 14m and 34m;
at least one of the group has evidence for a surrounding quarry ditch which is
visible as a slight depression around the mound. The remainder of the barrows
in the cemetery are in groups of two or three or are now apparently single
barrows. These barrows vary in height between 0.06m and 1m and between 7.4m
and 40m in diameter.
At least 11 of the barrows in the cemetery have been partially excavated - the
majority of these by Kirwan in the 1860s and 1870s. The excavations revealed a
variety of construction techniques for the mounds associated with different
types of cremation burials sometimes within a central stone cist. Recovered
grave goods included shale cups and at least one socketed bronze axe. Evidence
for secondary burials was quite frequently reported.
Excluded from the scheduling is all fencing, gates and gate posts and
metalled surfaces, although the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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.

Despite some limited damage over the years due to cultivation and, in one case
ditching, the round barrow cemetery on Broad Down survives well and will
contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and
the landscape in which it was built. The cemetery is one component of the
larger Bronze Age necropolis which stretches over Farway Hill, Gittisham Hill
and Broad Down and which has produced burials recognisably close in style to
those of Bronze Age Wessex.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Burnard, R, 'Devonshire Association Transactions' in Eighteenth Report of the Barrow Committee, (1899)
Burnard, R, 'Devonshire Association Transactions' in Eighteenth Report of the Barrow Committee, (1899), 95
Fox, A, 'Devon Archaeological Society Exploration Proceedings' in The Broad Down Necropolis and the Wessex Culture in Devon, , Vol. 4, (1952), 18
Fox, A, 'Devon Archaeological Society Exploration Proceedings' in The Broad Down Necropolis and the Wessex Culture in Devon, , Vol. 4, (1952), 19
Fox, A, 'Devon Archaeological Society Exploration Proceedings' in The Broad Down Necropolis and the Wessex Culture in Devon, , Vol. 4, (1952), 19
Fox, A, 'Devon Archaeological Society Exploration Proceedings' in The Broad Down Necropolis and the Wessex Culture in Devon, , Vol. 4, (1952), 19
Fox, A, 'Devon Archaeological Society Exploration Proceedings' in The Broad Down Necropolis and the Wessex Culture in Devon, , Vol. 4, (1952), 18
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 33-34
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 34
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 34
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 43
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 34
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 35
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 35
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 34
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 34
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 34
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 34
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 34
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 34
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 35
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 35
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society' in The Barrows of South and East Devon, , Vol. 41, (1983), 35
Hutchinson, , 'Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association' in Report on Barrows near Sidmouth, , Vol. 12, (1880)
Kirwan, R, 'Report of the Transactions of the Devonshire Association' in Notes On The Prehistoric Archaeology of East Devon, Part III, , Vol. 4(i), (1870), 295-304
Kirwan, R, 'Report of the Transactions of the Devonshire Association' in Notes On The Prehistoric Archaeology of East Devon, Part III, , Vol. 4(i), (1870), 302-3
Kirwan, R, 'Report of the Transactions of the Devonshire Association' in Notes On The Prehistoric Archaeology of East Devon, Part III, , Vol. 4(i), (1870), 301-2
Kirwan, R, 'Report of the Transactions of the Devonshire Association' in Memoir of the Examination of Three Barrows at Broad Down, Farway, , Vol. 2, (1868), 619-49
Kirwan, R, 'Report of the Transactions of the Devonshire Association' in Memoir of the Examination of Three Barrows at Broad Down, Farway, , Vol. 2, (1868), 641-5
Kirwan, R, 'Report of the Transactions of the Devonshire Association' in Memoir of the Examination of Three Barrows at Broad Down, Farway, , Vol. 2, (1868), 634-41
Kirwan, R, 'Report of the Transactions of the Devonshire Association' in Memoir of the Examination of Three Barrows at Broad Down, Farway, , Vol. 2, (1868), 619-49
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 26
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 24
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 23-4
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 25
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 24
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 23
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 26
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 25
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 24-25
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 25-6
Simpson, S, Noble, S, 'EMAFU Reports' in Archaeological Management/Survey Study of Broad Down, East Devon, , Vol. 93.38, (1993), 24-26
Other
Sainsbury, Parish Worksheet (unpublished), 1991,
Timms, S, (1997)
Title: Ordnance Survey
Source Date: 1948
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: Ordnance Survey
Source Date: 1957
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: Ordnance Survey
Source Date: 1975
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: Ordnance Survey
Source Date: 1975
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: Ordnance Survey
Source Date: 1982
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Title: Ordnance Survey
Source Date: 1982
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:

Source: Historic England