Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on an upland ridge overlooking
the valley of a tributary to the River Claw, forming part of a round barrow
cemetery. Seven other barrows which make up the cemetery lie to the south
west, east and south east and are the subject of separate schedulings.
The barrow includes a circular mound 19.9m in diameter and 1m high, surrounded
by a quarry ditch from which material to construct the mound was derived. This
ditch measures approximately 3m in width and partially underlies the field
boundaries to the east and north of the barrow; elsewhere it survives as a
buried feature, being barely discernible to the south as a flat area.
The field boundaries which cross the edges of the monument to the north and
east, together with the stock proof fences and a small trough on the eastern
boundary only, are excluded from the scheduling, 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.

The bowl barrow 220m east of Spry's Shop Cross, which forms part of a round
barrow cemetery, survives comparatively well and 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, SX39NE13, (1983)

Source: Historic England