MB Crossroads

Looking NNE from Church Street back gardens, Maiden Bradley. This bowl barrow type tumulus or burial mound is located in the corner of a cereal field adjacent to what was once Leather's Coaches garage.

Reasons for Designation

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.

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The bowl barrow 110m south east of crossroads, Maiden Bradley is, despite limited erosion caused by cultivation, a well preserved example of its class. The barrow will contain archaeological remains providing information about Bronze Age beliefs, economy and environment.

also see: Pastscape

English Heritage