Details

The monument is a bowl barrow located on a low limestone shelf 60m south-west
of Gaythorne Hall. It includes an oval mound of earth and limestone rubble up
to 1.4m high with maximum dimensions of 12.8m by 11.6m. At the barrow's centre
is a rectangular hollow measuring 4.3m by 3.2m by 0.7m deep entered from the
west. This disturbance marks the site of an antiquarian investigation which
located remains of four bodies, including one skeleton laid full length with
an iron knife at the waist, and one cremation. A number of ox bones were also
found.

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 limited antiquarian investigation of the monument's centre, the bowl
barrow 60m south-west of Gaythorne Hall survives reasonably well. This
investigation located human and faunal remains together with an iron knife
and further evidence of interments and grave goods will exist within the mound
and upon the old land surface beneath.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Greenwell, W, British Barrows386
Other
Darvill,T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)

Source: Historic England