Details

This monument includes four bowl barrows situated on the summit of a high
ridge to the south west of Patchacott. This location overlooks the valleys
of tributaries to both the Rivers Wolf and Lew. It commands a high vantage
point with extensive views to both Dartmoor and Exmoor. The northern
barrow measures 27.4m in diameter and is up to 1.2m high. The western of
the two central barrows measures 30.7m in diameter and 1.1m high, whilst
the other one stands to the same height and has a diameter of 30.6m. This
barrow is crossed by a large field bank. The southern barrow is circular
and measures 23.8m in diameter and is 0.5m high.
Each barrow is surrounded by a quarry ditch from which material to
construct the mound was derived. These survive mainly as buried features,
though one ditch is visible as a 0.2m deep and 3.2m wide hollow to the
south of the eastern of the two central barrows.
The field boundary crossing one of the barrows 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.
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 ploughing, the four bowl barrows 340m north west of Mount Pleasant
Farm survive well on a prominent ridge top location. Archaeological and
environmental information relating to the monument and the landscape in
which it was constructed survives in and under these mounds.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX49NE14, (1987)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX49NE15, (1982)
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SX49NE4, (1987)
National Archaeological Record, SX49NE3D,

Source: Historic England