Monument record 1627/1/1 - Bowl Barrow on Summit of Sponds Hill

<1> English Heritage, Various, Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Amendment), 22571 (Scheduling Record). SCH2950.

The monument is a bowl barrow located on the summit of Sponds Hill. It includes a slightly oval mound of earth and stones up to 0.5m high with maximum dimensions of 8.25m by 7.5m.

<2> Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1883 -, Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, Vol.30 p.184-194 Andrews W J 1912 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3293.

<3> Barnatt J, 1989, Peak District Barrow Survey, Sponds Hill No. 22:12 (Unpublished Report). SCH2591.

This small mound is 8m by 7.5m and 0.3m high upslope and 0.5m downslope. It has a trig pillar on its summit with slight erosion round. While it might be a small barrow, it can be interpreted with equal plausibility as a mound built by the OS (for which proven parallels can be given). Includes plan and transect.

<4> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Unknown (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

It was believed that this was the barrow was excavated in 1911 by W J Andrews (see 2). However the barrow that Andrews excavated was located 'midway in length of Sponds Hill and opposite to the village of Kettleshulme which lies below, a mile away to the east and called Reed's Hill'. This suggests that the excavated barrow was CHER 1597 (SJ 97817984) and not Sponds Hill barrow-north.

<5> Peak District National Park Authority, 1999, Brink Farm, Pott Shrigley annd Lyme Handley, Cheshire Archaeological Survey 1999, p.7 & 20 (Client Report). SCH5009.

The barrow is situated at 410m AOD the crest of a ridge at the southern end of the highest area. There is some considerable erosion of the monument where stock have been trampling around the trig point. It maybe a small barrow, but it could also be interpreted as a mound built by the Ordnance Survey for the trig point. It has good views over slopes to the south-west and east. The barrow makes the locations of the burials prominent features in the landscape. This prominence is heightened by the positioning of the barrows on the edge of a deeply incised dale. The alignment of the long barrow with the natural topography emphasises the ridge. The deliberate and careful selection of this topographical site makes the burial place of the dead, and from some locations the barrow itself, highly visible from some of the surrounding area. Barrows such as this one have been interpreted as helping to remind the living of their ancestry, of their kinship with their community and of their association with a geographic location.

<6> Peak District National Park Archaeology Service, Various, Scheduled Ancient Monument Monitoring Form (Unpublished Document). SCH4989.

Between 2005 and 2014 this monument has been visited 4 times by Peak District National Park rangers to monitor its condition. On 04/06/2005 it was observed that the barrow lies in grassland grazed by sheep, however some damage to the barrow has been caused by sheltering sheep at the base of the concrete triangulation pillar. The site was revisited in 2008, 2011 and 2014, its condition remained unchanged.