Scheduled Monument: Bowl Barrow On Toot Hill (1008299)

Schedule Entry Copy Entry In The Schedule Of Monuments Compiled And Maintained By The Secretary Of State Under Section 1 Of The Ancient Monuments And Archaeological Areas Act 1979 As Amended. MONUMENT: Bowl barrow on Toot Hill PARISH: MACCLESFIELD FOREST AND WILDBOARCLOUGH COUNTY: CHESHIRE DISTRICT: MACCLESFIELD NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 23612 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE (S) : SJ97067192 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument is a bowl barrow located on the south-western edge of the summit plateau of Toot Hill. It includes an oval mound of earth and stones up to 0.7m high with maximum dimensions of 9.7m by 8m. At the barrow's centre is a gritstone slab measuring 0.6m wide by 8cm thick and standing 0.45m high. 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 the erection of a stone slab at the monument's centre, the bowl barrow on Toot Hill survives reasonably well. It will contain undisturbed archaeological deposits within the mound and upon the old landsurface beneath. MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract outlined in black and highlighted in red. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation. SCHEDULING HISTORY Monument included in the Schedule on 28th November 1957 as: COUNTY/NUMBER: Cheshire 58 NAME: Round barrow south-west of Toot Hill The reference of this monument is now: NATIONAL MONUMENT NUMBER: 23612 NAME: Bowl barrow on Toot Hill SCHEDULING REVISED ON 18th October 1993