Scheduled Monument: Bowl Barrow 530m NE of Roe's Farm (1014934)

DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes a bowl barrow located 530m north east of Rose Farm on low-lying ground to the south of the River Nene. It is visible as a flat-topped circular mound up to 0.5m high and 26m in diameter. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds the mound. This has become infilled over the years, but it has been identified on aerial photographs and survives as a buried feature, approximately 5m wide. The ditch is included in the scheduling. 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. The bowl barrow located 530m north east of Rose Farm survives well and is one of only several examples of this type of monument which have been identified in the area. Archaeological deposits will survive within the burial mound and upon the old landsurface below providing information for burial activities and burial customs of the period, and for the environment in which the barrow was constructed.

Record last edited

Sep 6 2023 10:02AM