Ancient Monuments

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Circular enclosures 100yds (90m) south west of Bonthorn

A Scheduled Monument in Barton-under-Needwood, Staffordshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 52.7502 / 52°45'0"N

Longitude: -1.7348 / 1°44'5"W

OS Eastings: 417995.509316

OS Northings: 316987.740842

OS Grid: SK179169

Mapcode National: GBR 4D0.D7L

Mapcode Global: WHCGJ.B44G

Entry Name: Circular enclosures 100yds (90m) SW of Bonthorn

Scheduled Date: 4 April 1973

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1006094

English Heritage Legacy ID: ST 210

County: Staffordshire

Civil Parish: Barton-under-Needwood

Traditional County: Staffordshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Staffordshire

Church of England Parish: Wychnor St Leonard

Church of England Diocese: Lichfield

Summary

Two ring ditches 220m south west of Bonthorn Farm.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 6 July 2015. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes the buried remains of two ring ditches situated on ground sloping gently to the south east just over 1km north west of the confluence of the rivers Trent and Tame. Identified as cropmarks from aerial photography, two subcircular enclosures defined by a single ditch 17m and 19m in external diameter are possibly the buried remains of Bronze Age round barrows. Further cropmarks of a relic field system have also been identified as cropmarks in the area of scheduling. The river valleys of the Trent and Tame are known to have been an area of activity during the prehistoric period and north of the confluence of the two rivers appears to have been a focus for the development of a late Neolithic and early Bronze Age ceremonial landscape.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Round 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 ring ditches 220m south west of Bonthorn Farm survive as buried archaeological remains on the periphery of an area of considerable activity from the prehistoric to post-medieval periods. Although traces of earthworks appear to have been denuded through ploughing, buried archaeological features, artefacts and archaeological and environmental deposits will survive which will provide important information relating both to the monument and the wider landscape in which it was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
NMR: DST5593, NMR: SK11NE123, Pastscape: 929446, NMR: SK11NE27, Pastscape: 921737 & NMR: SK11NE94, Pastscape: 929415

Source: Historic England

Other nearby scheduled monuments

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