Scheduled Monument: Boughton Bowl Barrow (1013321)

DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT Boughton bowl barrow lies on the west side of Boughton village, just to the south of the road which runs from Boughton Hall to Boughton Mill. This Bronze Age bowl barrow consists of a round mound standing 2m high and 20m in diameter. Remains of a ditch approximately 2m wide can be traced around the barrow mound. Trees and grass cover the barrow, which lies unploughed in a cultivated field. In the 1970s, pottery and worked flints of Bronze Age type were discovered in pits within the southern part of the field in which the monument is located. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE 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.

Record last edited

Jun 5 2023 12:08PM