Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on level ground some 600m east of
the River Ouzel. The barrow mound survives to 20m in diameter and is 1.5m
high. The south east face of the burial mound was slightly altered by the
insertion of a former tennis court in the early 1900s, while a slight
elongation of the mound on the eastern side is considered to be made up of the
spoil removed from the barrow. Material for the construction of the barrow was
quarried from a ditch at the foot of the mound. Over the years this ditch has
become infilled, although it was visible in the 19th century and still
survives as a buried feature. The barrow is apparently unexcavated but a
Bronze Age pottery incense cup was found in the vicinity. Another barrow lies
to the south west.

All fences and fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the
ground beneath 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

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 disturbance to the bowl barrow east of the Knolls, caused by the
construction of a pavilion in the 19th century, the monument survives well
and has potential for the recovery of archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which the monument was
constructed. The importance of the barrow at the Knolls is enhanced by its
proximity to another large bowl barrow, 70m to the south west.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
The Victoria History of the County, (1908)
Thomas, , 'Beds. Archaeologist' in Beds. Archaeologist, , Vol. 1,3, (1956)
Other
Coleman, SR (Beds CC Conservation Section), (1993)
Jones, JB, The Two Knolls, Plantation Road, Leighton Linslade, (1988)
Mr R M Smith, (1991)

Source: Historic England