Scheduled Monument: Bowl Barrow 50M South Of Jodrell Bank Farm (1007639)

EXTRACT FROM ENGLISH HERITAGE'S RECORD OF SCHEDULED MONUMENTS MONUMENT: Bowl barrow 50m south of Jodrell Bank Farm PARISH: GOOSTREY DISTRICT: CONGLETON COUNTY: CHESHIRE NATIONAL MONUMENT NO: 23654 NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): SJ79387029 DESCRIPTION OF THE MONUMENT The monument is a bowl barrow located on flat land 50m south of Jodrell Bank Farm. It includes an oval earthen mound measuring up to 1.3m high with maximum dimensions of 58m east-west by 40m north-south. In 1977 cremations were exposed during ploughing across the mound. 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 some spreading of this monument by ploughing, the bowl barrow 50m south of Jodrell Bank Farm survives reasonably well. This ploughing revealed human cremations in the upper part of the mound, and further evidence of inhumations will exist within the barrow and upon the old landsurface beneath. MONUMENT INCLUDED IN THE SCHEDULE ON 25th January 1994