Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located close to the Icknield Way. The
barrow is visible as an earthen mound which stands to a height of about 0.5m
and covers a roughly circular area with a maximum diameter of about 24m. It is
thought that the mound is encircled by a ditch with an estimated width of 3m,
from which the earth was quarried during the construction of the barrow, and
although this has become completely infilled and is no longer visible, it will
survive as a buried feature.

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

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.

Despite the presence of a quarry pit approximately 2m to the NNW, the bowl
barrow 400m south west of Desnage Lodge survives well. It will retain
archaeological information concerning the construction and the manner and
duration of its use. Evidence for the local environment prior to and during
that time will also be preserved, in the upstanding earthwork, in soils buried
beneath the mound and in the fill of the buried ditch. The proximity of the
barrow to a number of other barrows in this area, in particular the barrow to
the north west of Pin Farm approximately 1km to the west and the group of
three barrows NNW of Needham Street, approximately 2km to the south west, give
it additional interest. Together these barrows give some evidence of the
character, development and density of the prehistoric population in this area.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Title: Gazeley Tithe Map
Source Date: 1845
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
SRU TI56/1
Title: Gazeley Tithe Map
Source Date: 1939
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
SRU TI56/1

Source: Historic England