Scheduled Monument: BOWL BARROW ON HADDON FIELDS (1017543)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION 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. Although this bowl barrow on Haddon Fields has been disturbed by ploughing and partial excavation, much of the barrow is still intact and contains significant archaeological remains. DETAILS Haddon Fields is located on the eastern shelves south of Wye Dale on the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes the northernmost of two bowl barrows on Haddon Fields and is a sub-circular mound measuring 20.5m by 13m by c.0.6m high. Formerly, the barrow would have been somewhat higher and more uniformly round. However, it has been ploughed over in the past which has caused some distortion of the original form. It may have been the barrow on Haddon Fields partially excavated by Thomas Bateman in 1860 in which was found a contracted skeleton on a bed of charred wood accompanied by a flint arrowhead, a bone spatula and a bronze awl. This, however, has not been confirmed and it is the location and appearance of the barrow, and its proximity to others of the same kind, which date it to the Bronze Age. SELECTED SOURCES Book Reference - Author: Abercromby, J. - Title: Bronze Age Pottery of the British Isles - Date: 1912 - Volume: 1 - Type: DESC TEXT - Description: Plate 39, Fig. 173 Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, J. - Title: The Peak District Barrow Survey - Type: DESC TEXT Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, J. - Title: The Peak District Barrow Survey - Type: PLAN: MEASURED Book Reference - Author: Bateman, T - Title: Ten Years Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave-Hills - Type: DESC TEXT Book Reference - Author: Clarke, D.L.. - Title: Beaker Pottery of Great Britain and Ireland - Type: DESC TEXT Book Reference - Author: Marsden B - Title: The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire (1977) - Date: 1977 - Type: DESC TEXT Article Reference - Author: Fowler, M. - Title: The Transition from L Neo to E Br A in the Pk Dist of Derbys - Date: 1955 - Journal Title: Derbyshire Archaeological Journal - Type: DESC TEXT