Monument record MDR4086 - Blake Low Bowl Barrow, Great Longstone

Dimensions: 15.5m x 11.5m diamter and height of 0.8m. Excavated in 1848 by T Bateman. A rock-cut grave was discovered covered with stones. It contained a cremation with deer antler. In opposite corners of the grave were a child's skeleton and two food vessels, of Types 1A (II) and 2(II). (1,8) This mutilated mound has been ploughed over and has a central pit, robbed sides, a drystone wall to the west, a telegraph pole at the centre and a metal pipe crossing the northern side (above ground). While it is likely to be a barrow, the possibility that it is lead mining spoil cannot be fully discounted. The Bateman excavation ascribed to it previously is probably in error and took place at SMR 6431. Another excavation by Bateman, on 17th July 1848, previously noted as SMR 6416, probably took place at SMR 6417. At the centre he found a shallow rock cut grave containing a contracted inhumation, bones of a child a beaker (N2) and an antler tine. Nearby was a cist containing the remains of six inhumations, four flints, one of which was a knife, another possibly a broken leaf shaped arrowhead, and sherds of a 'curiously decorated Urn'. (11) Blake Low bowl barrow is situated on Longstone Edge on the limestone plateau of Derbyshire. The monument includes a sub-circular cairn measuring 15.5m by 11.5m by c.0.5m high. At some time in the past, probably in the early nineteenth century when the plantation around the barrow was planted, the surface of the barrow was robbed of its stone for wall building. Prior to this it would have stood somewhat higher and probably been more uniformly circular. A partial excavation carried out in 1848 by Thomas Bateman revealed a shallow rock-cut grave at the centre of the barrow which contained the contracted skeleton of an adolescent girl, the bones of a younger child, a beaker and an antler tine. Nearby was a stone cist that held the remains of six inhumations, a number of flint implements and an urn. These discoveries indicate a Bronze Age date for the barrow. (12)