Details

The monument, which lies within two separate areas of protection, includes
a prehistoric round barrow cemetery situated on Pen Hill, a long and
predominantly south facing hill at the eastern edge of the Mendip Hills.
The cemetery includes five bowl barrows and two cairns, all believed to
date from the Late Neolithinc to Bronze Age period. It is linear in plan
and follows a north east to south west alignment over the broad summit of the
hill. The cairns are located in the north eastern part of the site whilst
one of the bowl barrows is set a few metres to the south of the
northernmost cairn; the other four bowl barrows are located further upslope
to the south west. Both cairn mounds have been partly obscured by stone
spoil which is thought to come from field clearance. Their original
profile is therefore difficult to survey with accuracy. However, they have
previously been recorded with maximum dimensions of 13m in diameter and
1.25m in height for the northernmost cairn, and 12m in diameter and 1m in
height for the southern cairn, which is located just to the south west of
the former.
The mounds of three of the bowl barrows, two of which form part of the
main group and one of which is located at about 40m to the south of it,
are, on average, 21m in diameter and they range in height from 1m to
1.75m. Two other bowl barrows, also forming part of the main group, are
on the east and south side, their mounds having previously been recorded
as 12m in diameter and 0.45m high, and 10m in diameter and 1.25m high
respectively. In common with other barrows in the area, all five bowl
barrows are surrounded by encircling ditches from which material was
quarried during their construction. These can no longer be seen at ground
level having become infilled by agriculture over the centuries, but they
survive as buried features of between approximately 1.5m-2.5m wide. All
but one of the quarry ditches can be seen on aerial photographs. All
fencing and fence posts 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.
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.

Despite the disturbance caused by stone clearance deposits in antiquity,
the prehistoric round barrow cemetery, 470m and 400m north of Pen Hill
Farm survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological remains
and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in
which it was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society' in Somerset Barrows, , Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society' in Somerset Barrows, , Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society' in Somerset Barrows, , Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society' in Somerset Barrows, , Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society' in Somerset Barrows, , Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L, 'Proceedings of Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society' in Somerset Barrows, , Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of Somerset Archaeological & Natural History Society' in Somerset Brrows, , Vol. 115, (1971), 116
Tratman, E K, 'Proc Univ Bristol Spel Soc' in Fieldwork, , Vol. 5(1), (1938), 82
Tratman, E K, 'Proc Univ Bristol Spel Soc' in Fieldwork, , Vol. 5(1), (1938), 82
Tratman, E K, 'Proc Univ Bristol Spel Soc' in Fieldwork, , Vol. 5(1), (1938), 82
Tratman, E K, 'Proc Univ Bristol Spel Soc' in Fieldwork, , Vol. 5(1), (1938), 82

Source: Historic England