MDE1081 - Three Bronze Age barrows on Kentisbury Down (Monument)

(Area SS 642434) Tumuli (O.E.) (Two) & Tumulus (O.E.). [1] Three round barrows on Kentisbury Down. 'A' SS 6421 4346. 16 paces in diameter and 4 and a half feet high. 'B' SS 6429 4344. 12 paces in diameter and 1 foot high. 'C' SS 6433 4338. 11 paces in diameter and 1 and a half feet high. Traces of other smaller mound (? barrows) in vicinity noted by Wickenden in 1939 and confirmed in 1961. [2] 'A' No change 'B' Very poor condition, the mound is now very slight. 'C' Approximately 11.0 metres in diameter and 0.7 metres high. Smaller mounds noted by Grinsell not certainly identifiable and unlikely to be cairns or barrows. Barrows A-C surveyed at 1:2500. [3] SS 643 433. Round barrow. Scheduled, Devon 95. [4] Three round barrows centred at SS 6429 4344 on east facing slopes on Kentisbury Down. All the barrows lie within improved permanent pasture, and have a very open aspect to the east. Barrow A. Centred at SS 6421 4346. A well preserved, turf covered, circular mound, composed of earth and shale. It stands to 2 metres in height and has a diameter of 15 metres. A slight hollowing on the eastern side of the summit is probably the result of animal rubbing. Barrow B. Centred at SS 6428 4344. A low, turf-covered, circular mound, composed of earth and shale, and bisected by a north-west to south-east hedgebank. The barrow is 0.4 metres high and has an approximate diameter of 9.8 metres. The hedgebank, some 1.8 metres wide overlies the mound, whilst a drainage ditch along the south-west side of the boundary has cut through the core of the mound, leaving a slight arc of mound material at the extreme edge of the field. On the north-east side of the boundary the spread mound is more visible as a broad swelling at the edge of the field. Barrow C. Centred at SS 6432 4338. A low, turf-covered, triangular-shaped mound, of unknown composition. The barrow stands to 0.6 metres in height and has a diameter of approximately 10.5 metres. Its north-west side has been truncated and straightened by a hedge ditch running beside the field boundary. A field gate and a trough to the immediate north-north-east have also caused some wear to the mound. 1:2500 survey revised. Archive plan including MDE1077 deposited in NMR. [5,18] Barrow 'A' as described above is visble on aerial photographs as an substantial earthwork on Kentisbury Down. The two smaller barrows are not visible. On photographs taken in 1947, there is a worn area surrounding Barrow A, probably the result of animal erosion. [6] This barrow [barrow A] does not appear to have been opened. It lies in the ploughed field but it is respected by the plough which seems never to have gone over it. [8] Barrow [A] is still well preserved, lying in pasture, and not affected by the farmer's proposal to plough and reseed part of his farm. The barrow [B] is still visible as a slight mound. It is crossed by a hedgebank which runs north-west to south-east. The greater part of the barrow lies to the north east of this hedge in a field which was ploughed in 1965 and is due to be ploughed again in 1981. The barrow [C], which lies against the north-west hedge of a large field, is still visible. It was ploughed in 1966 and the hedge ditch on its north west side was dug out by machine in 1980. The field is due to be ploughed again in 1981. [9] This barrow [A] was scheduled as 95a in 1931. The field to north-east of hedge has been recently ploughed. A small area on/around the mound [Barrow B] has been left unploughed. Seen from road. This barrow was scheduled with barrow to the south-east [C] as 95b in 1948. A management agreement is under negotiation. [10] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave all three barrows a score of 3. [16] The site was surveyed in June 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. Barrows A and C were given a survival score of 0 and barrow B received a score of 7. [17] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [19] The three barrows are depicted and labelled "tumuli" and "tumulus" on the 2021 MasterMap data. [20]