Details

This monument includes two bowl barrows situated on the floodplain of the
River Taw approximately 80m north of a long established natural ford, spanned
by a bridge.
The barrows survive as two oval mounds with their long axes aligned east to
west. The northern mound measures 40.2m long, 32.5m wide, and is up to 0.9m
high. The southern mound measures 38.5m long, 30.5m wide, and is up to 1m
high. The mounds are each surrounded by a buried quarry ditch from which
material was taken for their construction; these are approximately 3m wide.
A geophysical survey has revealed pits and circular features in both barrow
mounds and in their ditches, and the presence of probable kerb stones has
been encountered during ploughing.

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 two bowl barrows 200m north east of Newland Cross survive comparatively
well and despite reduction in their heights through cultivation. Buried
remains are known to survive well, relating to the construction and use of the
monument and the nature of the surrounding landscape in the Neolithic to
Bronze Age period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Devon County Sites and Monuments Register, SS60SE77, (1996)

Source: Historic England