Scheduled Monument: TWO BOWL BARROWS ON STAND LOW (1009025)

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 one of the two bowl barrows on Stand Low has been partially disturbed by excavation, the monument is still very well preserved and contains significant archaeological remains, both inside the mounds and also between them where the later earth bank will have preserved the edges of the barrows and any deposits linking the two. DETAILS The two bowl barrows on Stand Low are situated c.20m apart on a ridge in the southern fringes of the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes both barrows within a single constraint area. The larger, north-western barrow is a sub-circular cairn measuring 16m by 13.5m by c.1m high while the smaller, south-eastern barrow is roughly circular and measures 10.5m by 9.5m by c.1m high. Both barrows are situated next to a quarry which contains the entrance to a lead rake. The land on which the barrows are situated is `King's Field'; that is, an area in which the right to mine lead is exclusively that of the Crown. The two barrows are joined by a linear earthwork, included in the scheduling, which measures c.10m wide and stands c.0.6m high. This earthwork is not yet fully understood, though one interpretation is that it is part of a boundary bank demarcating the northern limit of the `King's Field'. During a partial excavation of one of the barrows by Lucas and Carrington in 1869 a number of finds were made which date the barrow to the Bronze Age. These include a pottery urn, an amber ring, a perforated stone axe and a bronze 3-rivetted dagger with an ivory pommel. Cropmarks also indicate the probable location of Anglian secondary burials dating to c.AD700. Excluded from the scheduling is the field wall crossing the eastern edge of the monument but the ground underneath is included. SELECTED SOURCES Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, J - Title: The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989) - Date: 1989 Book Reference - Author: Barnatt, J - Title: The Peak District Barrow Survey (1989) - Date: 1989 Book Reference - Author: Marsden, BM - Title: The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire (1977) - Date: 1977 - Page References: 67 - Type: DESC TEXT