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Monument record MDR1554 - Bowl barrow, Kenslow Knoll, Middleton and Smerrill

Type and Period (4)

  • (Early Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 1501 BC)
  • (Roman to Saxon - 43 AD to 1065 AD)
  • (Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 1501 BC)
  • (Early Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 1501 BC)

Protected Status/Designation

Full Description

SK 1842 6171. The site was excavated by William Bateman in 1821, and then by Thomas Bateman in 1848. The former cut a trench from the south side to the centre, where he uncovered a lined rock cut grave containing two or ?three inhumations. One had a copper alloy Roman/?Anglian penannular brooch on its chest, with a wheel turned pot sherd (Romano-British/?Anglo-Saxon) and quartz pebbles, and thus is likely to be an insertion. Further sherds and an iron knife were found in 1848, in the 1821 backfill. The other inhumation and deposits were somewhat disturbed, presumably by the Romano-British/?Anglo-Saxon burial. By the body was a bronze dagger, and the head was surrounded by quartz pebbles. Elsewhere in the rock-cut grave, in uncertain contexts, were a stone battle axe, a rubbing stone and burnt bones. Near the grave, and in the 1821 backfill, were human and animal bones, seven perforated bone crescents, a bone point, a bone pin and sherds (some of beaker, the other described as "coarse"). It is unclear if all these originated from the grave, some at least could be from further deposits elsewhere. Many flints and a polished axe fragment were found in the mound (and grave) and some at least are likely to be residual. The barrow was 19½ metres long,16 metres in breadth and ½ metre in height. (2, 6, 17, 20). Tumulus. (9). Published survey correct. (11). The bowl barrow became a scheduled monument on 16th February 1994. Kenslow Knoll bowl barrow occupies a hilltop position in the central uplands of the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument is a sub-circular barrow measuring 19½ metres by 16 metres. It has a level top and stands c.¾ metres high. Partial excavations carried out by William Bateman in 1821 and Thomas Bateman in 1848 revealed a lined rock-cut grave containing an inhumation accompanied by a round-heeled bronze dagger with three rivets and a number of quartz pebbles which surrounded the head. A second inhumation was accompanied by a Romano-British penannular brooch and pot sherd. The grave also contained a stone battleaxe, burnt bones indicative of a cremation burial, and a rubbing stone, while, elsewhere in the mound, various human and animal bones were found in addition to fragments of a polished stone axe, numerous flint and bone implements, a shale ring, sherds of Beaker pottery, seven perforated bone crescents and an iron knife. The remains indicate that the barrow originated in the Early Bronze Age but that it was re-used in the Romano-British period. The iron knife suggests that it was also used in the Anglian period. (18) Photographic record. (19) A Mesolithic tranchet flint axe, measuring 140mm long and 60mm wide, was found on the surface of the barrow at Kenslow Knoll in June 1851. It is now in Sheffield City Museum. (7, 15, 21) Site monitoring has been carried out. See record for details. (22)

Sources/Archives (22)

  • <1> Unpublished document: Mitchell, S. 1842. Memoranda Dated 26-12-1842, in T. Bateman Correspondence, vol.2..
  • <2> Bibliographic reference: Bateman, T. 1848. Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire. pp 28-30.
  • <3> Unpublished document: Bateman, T. n.d.. Collectania Antiqua. Unpublished collection of papers, Sheffield City Library. Fol.19-22.
  • <4> Unpublished document: Bateman, T. Descriptions of, and Observations on, Further Discoveries in the Barrows of Derbyshire.
  • <5> Bibliographic reference: Bateman, T. 1855. Descriptive Catalogue of the Antiquities at Lomberdale House. K916.
  • <6> Bibliographic reference: Bateman, T. 1861. Ten Years' Diggings in Celtic and Saxon Grave Hills. pp 20-22.
  • <7> Bibliographic reference: Howarth, E. 1899. Catalogue of the Bateman Collection of Antiquities in the Sheffield Public Museum. pp 9,18,29,39.
  • <8> Article in serial: Fowler, M. 1954. 'The Anglian Settlement of the Derbyshire-Staffordshire Peak District', Derbyshire Archaeological Journal. Volume 74, pp 134-151. p146, illus.
  • <9> Map: Ordnance Survey (OS). 1955. 6".
  • <10> Article in serial: Ozanne, A. 1962-3. 'The Peak Dwellers', Medieval Archaeology. Volume 6-7. pp 51-52.
  • <11> Personal Observation: F1 JB 17-FEB-66.
  • <12> Bibliographic reference: Clarke, D L. 1970. Beaker Pottery of Great Britain and Ireland. No. 1348.
  • <13> Article in serial: Moore, C N and Cummins, W A. 1974. 'Petrological Identification of Stone Implements from Derbyshire and Leicestershire', Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. Volume 40, pp 59-78. p72.
  • <14> Bibliographic reference: Marsden, B. 1977. The Burial Mounds of Derbyshire. pp 73-74.
  • <15> Bibliographic reference: Wymer, J J (ed). 1977. Gazetteer of Mesolithic Sites in England and Wales: Council for British Archaeology (CBA) Research Report 20. p53.
  • <16> Index: North Derbyshire Archaeological Trust (NDAT). North Derbyshire Archaeological Trust Index. 1504.
  • <17> Unpublished document: Barnatt, J. 1989. The Peak District Barrow Survey (updated 1994). Site 8:19.
  • <18> Scheduling record: English Heritage. 1994. Scheduling Notification: Kenslow Knoll. 23250. Cat. No.: 327.
  • <19> Photograph: Peak District National Park Authority (PDNPA). Slide Collection. 1980: 10119.1-5.
  • <20> Unpublished document: Taylor, H (PDNPA). 1997. Land belonging to Meadow Place Grange, Middleton and Smerrill and Youlgreave, Derbyshire. p13, illus.
  • <21> Index: NDAT. 3409. 3409.
  • <22> Unpublished document: Marriott, J & Marriott, V (PDNPA). 2011. Scheduled Monument Monitoring Form: Kenslow Knoll Bowl Barrow.

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Grid reference Centred SK 1842 6171 (17m by 17m) (Centre)
Civil Parish MIDDLETON AND SMERRILL, DERBYSHIRE DALES, DERBYSHIRE

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (8)

  • EDR99
  • EDR4078
  • EDR3187
  • EDR3188
  • EDR3189
  • EDR1167
  • EDR328
  • EDR21

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Record last edited

Aug 26 2015 3:38PM

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