MSO8535 - Bronze Age bowl barrow on Winsford Hill (Monument)

Summary

A Bronze Age bowl barrow comprising a circular stony mound 15.5 metres in diameter and 0.5 metres high. The summit has been much disturbed by robbing.

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Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

At SS 88653425 is a feature discovered on aerial photographs by L V Grinsell [1]. It is a circular platform with a raised rim, overall height 0.6 metres. The inner slope of the rim is comparatively irregular and there has undoubtedly been some digging in the interior of the platform. This suggests that the feature is a bowl barrow, and that its present apprearance has been caused by the robbing of material from its top and centre. A short scarp to the southwest may be a fragment of an associated ditch. But the impresssion that a ditch completely encircled the mound is an illusion caused by a sheep track. Surveyed at 1:2500. [2] SS 8865 3425. Winsford 6. Bowl barrow listed, 15 paces diameter and 2 feet high. [3] (SS 8864 3425) Tumulus (NR) [3] A robbed barrow at SS 8864 3425. The description given by [2] gives some clue to the curious form of this monument. However, it is clearly a barrow, but has been heavily disturbed. The barrow comprises a circular earth covered, stony mound 15.5 metres in diameter and 0.5 metres high, the summit of which has been disturbed and robbed in such a way as to leave a rim of material around its outer edge, with a sharp inner facing scarp, which is reminiscent of a ringbank. Subsequent to this activity, a kidney shaped pit measuring 3.5 metres by 2.7 metres and 0.4 metres deep has been dug into its centre. A spread of spoil surrounds this pit. The barrow lies within a former field system of low earthen banks and ridge and furrow, and this ridging appears to butt up against the barrow. On the north and east sides are traces of what appears to be a ditch around the barrow. This is best explained, not as an original feature, but rather as the result of material robbed from the barrow summit being thrown outwards over the ends of the ridge and furrow, creating the illusion of a fragmentary ditch scarp. Furthermore, a scarp runs off the northwest side of the barrow and this too can be explained as part of the later field system or robbing. [5] Scheduled on 6th October 2003. [6] The barrow is covered by bracken and is invisible from even a short distance. It has a hollow centre. [7] Discovered on aerial photographs. Circular bank with round mound in centre. Second mound to the northeast. [1,8-9] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave the site a survival score of 7. [10] The site was surveyed in March 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. It was given a survival score of 7. [11] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [14]

Sources/Archives (14)

  • <1> Aerial photograph: April 1947. LHL CPE.UK 1980. 3354 & 5 (11 April 1947).
  • <2> Unpublished document: PITCHER, GHP. Field Investigators Comments. Ordnance Survey visit, 19 August 1965.
  • <3> Article in serial: Grinsell, L.V.. 1969. Somerset Barrows. Part I: West and South. Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society. 113. P. 42.
  • <4> Map: Ordnance Survey. 1978. 1:10,000 SS83SE.
  • <5> Unpublished document: Wilson-North, R.. Various. Field Investigators Comments. RCHME Field Investigation, 12 March 1997.
  • <6> Unpublished document: English Heritage. 15/10/2003. English Heritage to Somerset County Council.
  • <7> Unassigned: SMR file 34224.
  • <8> Aerial photograph: September 19. HSL.UK.71-177 Run 89. 8660.
  • <9> Survey: Western Archaeological Trust. 1980s. Exmoor Aerial Photograph Survey. 8834.
  • <10> Report: Bray, L.S.. 2010. Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment 2009, Exmoor National Park.
  • <11> Report: Gent, T. and Manning, P.. 2015. Exmoor National Park Scheduled Monument Condition Survey 2015. Archaedia.
  • <12> Aerial photograph transcription: Davis, J.D.. 1999. Winsford Hill Project/Ink AP Transcription. 1:2,500.
  • <13> Archive: Winton, H.. 1999. RCHME: Winsford Hill Project, Somerset. AF1301154.
  • <14> Digital archive: Historic England. Various. National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) entry. 35783, Extant 1 February 2022.

External Links (1)

Other Statuses/References

  • Exmoor National Park HER Number (now deleted): MSO11666
  • Local List Status (No)
  • National Monuments Record reference: SS 83 SE8
  • National Park: Exmoor National Park
  • NRHE HOB UID (Pastscape): 35783
  • Somerset SMR PRN (Somerset): 34224

Map

Location

Grid reference Centred SS 8862 3424 (46m by 33m)
Map sheet SS83SE
Civil Parish WINSFORD, WEST SOMERSET, SOMERSET

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (2)

Record last edited

Feb 1 2022 11:16AM

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