Ancient Monuments

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Bowl barrow 685m NNE of Moorfield

A Scheduled Monument in Shebbear, Devon

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.8831 / 50°52'59"N

Longitude: -4.2024 / 4°12'8"W

OS Eastings: 245172.158642

OS Northings: 111597.08613

OS Grid: SS451115

Mapcode National: GBR KJ.SR74

Mapcode Global: FRA 262R.YFH

Entry Name: Bowl barrow 685m NNE of Moorfield

Scheduled Date: 29 September 1998

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1017963

English Heritage Legacy ID: 30323

County: Devon

Civil Parish: Shebbear

Traditional County: Devon

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Devon

Church of England Parish: Shebbear St Michael

Church of England Diocese: Exeter

Details

This monument includes a bowl barrow situated in an elevated upland location
overlooking the valley of a tributary to the Mussel Brook.
The barrow survives as a slightly oval mound 24.1m long from north east to
south west by 22.1m wide from north west to south east and 0.8m high. The
surrounding ditch from which material was derived to construct
the mound, survives as a buried feature 2.5m 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 685m NNE of Moorfield survives well and forms part of a
discrete group of dispersed barrows.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS41SE10, (1982)

Source: Historic England

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