Details

This monument includes three bowl barrows in an approximately east to west
alignment situated on an upland ridge forming the watershed between the
valleys of the River Tamar and the Small Brook. Each barrow includes a mound
surrounded by a quarry ditch from which material was derived during its
construction. For all except the westernmost barrow, these features are no
longer visible but survive as buried features approximately 3m wide. Part of
the ditch of the westernmost barrow is visible to the south west where it
survives as a 3.1m wide and up to 0.2m deep feature; elsewhere it is buried
like the others in the group.
The eastern mound measures up to 30.9m in diameter and 1.3m high, and the
central mound measures 23.6m in diameter and 1.2m high. The western mound is
oval in shape and measures 33.8m long south west to north east by 28.6m wide
north west to south east and is 1.3m high.
The monument also includes the archaeologically sensitive areas between the
barrows, where contemporary flat burials and settlement evidence are likely to
occur. The western barrow is partially overlain by a field boundary across its
ditch on the north western side. This field boundary is excluded from the
scheduling, although the ground beneath is included.

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.

The three bowl barrows 240m south east of Highermoor survive well and will
contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the monument
and the surrounding landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS20NE503, (1982)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS20NE504, (1982)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS20NE505, (1982)

Source: Historic England