Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located 210m north east of Rushy Platt
Farm in the south western part of Swindon. It is situated close to the west
bank of the River Ray, below the steep slope forming the western side of
Swindon Hill.
The bowl barrow is sealed beneath a landfill deposit of modern origin
approximately 0.4m thick. The principal feature, as revealed by archaeological
investigation, consists of a mound 11m in diameter and 0.75m high. A small
scale excavation in 1922 revealed a large flat stone slab sealing a deep pit
containing worked flint.

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.

The bowl barrow 210m north east of Rushy Platt Farm survives comparatively
well beneath a modern landfill deposit and has been shown from part
excavations to contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence
relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Barber, A, Land at Rushey Platt, Wiltshire - Archaeological Evaluation, (1994)
Passmore, A D, 'Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine' in Fieldwork in Wiltshire in 1928, , Vol. 44, (1929), 243

Source: Historic England