Ancient Monuments

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Boar's Den bowl barrow

A Scheduled Monument in Wrightington, Lancashire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 53.5949 / 53°35'41"N

Longitude: -2.7301 / 2°43'48"W

OS Eastings: 351772.414916

OS Northings: 411168.904963

OS Grid: SD517111

Mapcode National: GBR 9VCW.Q2

Mapcode Global: WH86D.1W6Z

Entry Name: Boar's Den bowl barrow

Scheduled Date: 22 July 1964

Last Amended: 23 September 1994

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1008903

English Heritage Legacy ID: 23706

County: Lancashire

Civil Parish: Wrightington

Traditional County: Lancashire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Lancashire

Church of England Parish: Douglas-in-Parbold Christ Church

Church of England Diocese: Blackburn

Details

The monument includes Boar's Den bowl barrow located on gently undulating
ground 150m south of Boar's Den Farm. It includes a slightly oval mound of
earth and stones 1.8m-2.5m high with maximum dimensions of 66.5m east-west
by 62m north-south.

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 past ploughing which appears to have spread the mound slightly, Boar's
Den bowl barrow survives reasonably well. It is not known to have been
excavated and will therefore retain undisturbed archaeological deposits within
the mound and upon the old landsurface beneath.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Darvill, T, MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Bowl Barrows, (1989)
FMW Report, Capstick, B, Boar's Den round barrow, (1991)
SMR No. 279, Lancs SMR, Boar's Den, (1993)

Source: Historic England

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