Ancient Monuments

History on the Ground

This site is entirely user-supported. See how you can help.

Two bowl barrows, 530m and 670m north east of Plantation Cottage

A Scheduled Monument in West Bagborough, Somerset

We don't have any photos of this monument yet. Why don't you be the first to send us one?

Upload Photo »

Approximate Location Map
Large Map »

If Google Street View is available, the image is from the best available vantage point looking, if possible, towards the location of the monument. Where it is not available, the satellite view is shown instead.

Coordinates

Latitude: 51.107 / 51°6'25"N

Longitude: -3.1887 / 3°11'19"W

OS Eastings: 316873.006178

OS Northings: 134859.88027

OS Grid: ST168348

Mapcode National: GBR LX.BHZH

Mapcode Global: VH6H4.PF3Q

Entry Name: Two bowl barrows, 530m and 670m north east of Plantation Cottage

Scheduled Date: 27 October 1975

Last Amended: 15 June 1999

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1016501

English Heritage Legacy ID: 32173

County: Somerset

Civil Parish: West Bagborough

Traditional County: Somerset

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Somerset

Details

The monument, which falls in two separate areas, includes two Bronze Age bowl
barrows aligned from east-west on Wills Neck, a high, broad plateau in the
southern region of the Quantock Hills, between Middle Hill and Bagborough
Hill.
The mound of the barrow to the west is 22m in diameter and approximately 2m
high. It is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during its
construction. This survives as a shallow depression up to 2.5m wide and is
most apparent on the north, east, and south side. The mound of the barrow to
the east is 13m in diameter and approximately 1m high. This is likely to have
possessed a surrounding quarry ditch which will have become infilled over the
years but will survives as a buried feature approximately 2m wide. Both barrow
mounds have a hollow depression at the centre which may have been caused by
their part excavation by an antiquarian.

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

The area of the Quantock Hills, although small in extent, is one of the few
remaining expanses of open moorland in southern Britain. Its archaeological
importance lies in the existence of a landscape displaying examples of
monuments tracing the exploitation of the hills from the Bronze Age onwards.
Well-preserved monuments from the Bronze Age and Iron Age, including round
barrows, cairns, settlements, hillforts and a trackway, as well as later
industrial remains, give insights into changes in the pattern of land use on
the hills through time. These earthworks are one of the key components of the
Quantocks' broader landscape character.
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. In excess of 30 bowl barrows can be found on
the Quantock Hills. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major
historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation in
form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the
diversity of beliefs and social organisations among 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 north east of Plantation Cottage are part of a larger
group of barrows situated on Wills Neck. Both barrows survive well and will
contain archaeological deposits and environmental evidence relating to the
barrows and the wider landscape in which they were constructed.

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

AncientMonuments.uk is an independent online resource and is not associated with any government department. All government data published here is used under licence. Please do not contact AncientMonuments.uk for any queries related to any individual ancient or schedued monument, planning permission related to scheduled monuments or the scheduling process itself.

AncientMonuments.uk is a Good Stuff website.