Scheduled Monument: Bowl Barrow 700m N of Woodford Mill (1016144)

DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes a bowl barrow located 700m north of Woodford Mill on low lying ground on the south bank of the River Nene. It is visible as a mound measuring approximately 30m in diameter and 0.5m in height. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This has become partly infilled over the years but is visible as a slight depression 5m wide on the south and east sides. The mound and ditch are partly overlain by spoil deposited during the construction in modern times of a nearby pond. 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 700m north of Woodford Mill survives well both as a visible earthwork and in the form of buried archaeological deposits. These deposits, including funerary remains, will be preserved within and beneath the mound and in the fills of the ditch; they will provide valuable evidence for the date, construction and period of use of the barrow. Environmental evidence preserved in the same deposits will illustrate the nature of the landscape in which the monument was constructed.

Record last edited

Sep 6 2023 10:05AM