Scheduled Monument: Bowl barrow on East Parley Common 610m south west of Fir Grove Farm (1016092)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Bowl barrow on East Parley Common 610m south west of Fir Grove Farm PARISH: HURN DISTRICT: CHRISTCHURCH COUNTY: DORSET NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 29564 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SZ10529955 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument includes a bowl barrow on East Parley Common 610m south west of Fir Grove Farm. The barrow has a mound which is 19m in diameter and approximately 1.2m high. Surrounding the mound is a quarry ditch from which material was excavated during its construction. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature approximately 2m wide. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE 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 bowl barrow on East Parley Common 610m south west of Fir Grove Farm is a comparatively well preserved example of its class and will contain archaeological evidence for Bronze Age beliefs, economy and environment. MONUMENT INCLUDED IN THE SCHEDULE ON 25th September 1997

Record last edited

Oct 7 2024 3:02PM