Scheduled Monument: Bowl Barrow 100M West Of Black Rock Farm (1007391)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Bowl barrow 100m west of Black Rock Farm PARISH: RAINOW DISTRICT: MACCLESFIELD COUNTY: CHESHIRE NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 22568 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SJ95867663 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument is a bowl barrow located 100m west of Black Rock Farm on a slight knoll on the hillside below a broad shelf. It includes a sub-circular mound of earth and stones 22.5m in diameter and up to 1.6m high. Undocumented investigation of the barrow's centre has left a hollow 4m in diameter and 0.3m deep approached by a shallow trench from the south-west. ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE 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. Despite limited investigation of the monument's centre and some spreading of the mound's edges by ploughing, the bowl barrow 100m west of Black Rock Farm survives reasonably well. It will contain undisturbed archaeological deposits within the mound and upon the old landsurface beneath. SCHEDULING HISTORY Monument included in the Schedule on 12th April 1957 as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Cheshire 52 NAME: Round barrow west of Blackrock Farm The reference of this monument is now: NATIONAL MONUMENT NUMBER: 22568 NAME: Bowl barrow 100m west of Black Rock Farm SCHEDULING REVISED ON 20th October 1993