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Two bowl barrows, known as Crippet's Wood round barrows, 560m and 590m north east of Dryhill Farm

A Scheduled Monument in Coberley, Gloucestershire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.8526 / 51°51'9"N

Longitude: -2.0955 / 2°5'43"W

OS Eastings: 393520.5766

OS Northings: 217120.6021

OS Grid: SO935171

Mapcode National: GBR 2MP.YW8

Mapcode Global: VH94F.MPKM

Entry Name: Two bowl barrows, known as Crippet's Wood round barrows, 560m and 590m north east of Dryhill Farm

Scheduled Date: 9 October 1981

Last Amended: 13 October 1999

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1017041

English Heritage Legacy ID: 32372

County: Gloucestershire

Civil Parish: Coberley

Traditional County: Gloucestershire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Gloucestershire

Church of England Parish: Coberley St Giles

Church of England Diocese: Gloucester

Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows aligned roughly north east-south west,
located just below the crest of a hill in the Cotswolds and within two areas
of protection. The northern barrow has a mound which measures 30m in diameter
and is 0.3m high, while the southern barrow mound is 20m in diameter and 0.6m
high. Each mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was excavated
during the construction of the barrows. These ditches are no longer visible at
ground level, having become infilled over the years, but survive as buried
features 3m and 2m wide respectively.
The northern barrow was partially excavated by Bell and Gomonde in 1845, and
again by Dr H Bird in 1860. The mound was found to contain a central chamber
measuring 1.8m by 0.6m by 0.6m, in which the remains of at least seven
individuals were identified. Indications of burning were observed outside the
chamber and Gomonde and Bell recorded finding another four skeletons above
the chamber.
The dry stone wall which runs across the southern barrow mound is excluded
from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included.

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 known as Crippets Wood round barrows survive well
despite some disturbance by partial excavation during the 19th century and
lie about 300m to the south of a long barrow, the subject of a separate
scheduling.
Both mounds will contain evidence for primary and secondary burials, along
with grave goods, which will provide information about prehistoric funerary
practices and about the size of the local community at that time. The barrow
mounds will also preserve environmental information in the buried original
ground surface, predating the construction of the barrows and giving an
insight into the landscape in which the monument was set. In addition the
mounds and their associated ditches will contain environmental evidence in the
form of organic remains, which will relate both to the barrow and the wider
landscape.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Bell, , Gomonde, , 'Journal of the British Archaeological Association' in Journal of the British Archaeological Association, , Vol. 1, (1846), 153-4
Bird, H, 'Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists' Field Club' in Notes on the Tumuli of the Cotteswold Hills, , Vol. 6, (1877), 334
O`Neil, H E, Grinsell, L V, 'Proc of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Arch Soc' in Gloucestershire Barrows, , Vol. LXXIX, (1960), 109

Source: Historic England

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