Scheduled Monument: Robin Hood's Tump Bowl Barrow (1011120)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Robin Hood's Tump bowl barrow PARISH: ALPRAHAM DISTRICT: CREWE AND NANTWICH COUNTY: CHESHIRE NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 22593 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SJ57475993 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument is Robin Hood's Tump bowl barrow. It is located on a broad, low ridge adjacent to a right-angled turn of Vale Road and includes a flat-topped sand and turf mound 17m in diameter and 1.5m high. Limited excavation during the 1930's located 12 worked flints within the mound. Two pits, one at the northern edge of the barrow and the other close to the centre, together with a line of 4 post holes dug into the buried landsurface, have been attributed to pre-barrow occupation. 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 excavation of the monument, Robin Hood's Tump bowl barrow survives reasonably well. This excavation located worked flint within the mound and also indicated that the monument is a rare example of a bowl barrow having evidence for earlier occupation preserved beneath it. SCHEDULING HISTORY Records show that this monument was included in the Schedule on 12th February 1958 as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Cheshire 64 NAME: Round barrow W of the Grove Monument's inclusion in the Schedule was confirmed on 9th October 1981. Monument included as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Cheshire 64 NAME: Round barrow W of The Grove The reference of this monument is now: NATIONAL MONUMENT NUMBER: 22593 NAME: Robin Hood's Tump bowl barrow SCHEDULING AFFIRMED ON 01st September 1993