Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows arranged on an east-west axis and
situated on sloping ground 100m north east of Bowldown Wood in an area of the
Cotswold Hills.
The western barrow, which has a mound composed of small stones, is 25m across
and c.0.6m high. The mound is known to have been partially disturbed by
excavation between 1939-1940, but the burial deposits of the monument were not
disturbed. The eastern barrow, which also has a mound composed of small
stones, has a maximum diameter of 22m and a maximum height of 0.25m.
Both barrow mounds are surrounded by ditches from which material was quarried
during their construction. These have become infilled over the years, but
survive as buried features c.2m wide.

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 partial excavation of one of the mounds, the two bowl barrows 100m
north east of Bowldown Wood survive comparatively well and will contain
archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the
landscape in which they were constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Details of barrow dimensions,
Mention of watching brief (1939-40),

Source: Historic England