Details

This monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a high and prominent upland
ridge which acts as the watershed between valleys of tributaries to the River
Lyd, the River Burn and the River Lumburn. This bowl barrow forms an outlier
to a round barrow cemetery at Heathfield, nine other components of which lie
to the east and south east and are the subject of separate schedulings. The
monument also straddles a parish boundary.
The monument includes a circular mound which measures 22m in diameter and up
to 0.7m high. Surrounding the mound is the quarry ditch from which material
to construct the mound was derived. This is traceable on the ground and
measures up to a maximum of 4.4m wide and 0.1m deep.
The mound is largely flat-topped, albeit slightly uneven in appearance with
steep sides. Some animal scrapes reveal that the mound is composed of dark
gritty loam and small stones. On the western side is a depression which
measures up to 2m wide and 0.1m deep which may represent an old excavation
trench.

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

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.

The bowl barrow 340m east of The Firs, which forms part of the round barrow
cemetery at Heathfield, survives well, despite some cultivation and previous
excavation. It will contain both archaeological and environmental information
relating to the monument and its surrounding landscape.
Bowl barrows are the most numerous form of round barrow, with over 10,000
examples recorded nationally. They were constructed as earthen or rubble
mounds each covering single or multiple burials.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX47NE5, (1986)

Source: Historic England