Monument Type(s):

• BOWL BARROW (Bronze Age - 2600 BC to 700 BC)
• (Former Type) MOTTE? (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• GAZEBO (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1901 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument: Despite later intrusion by an ice house (PRN 19635) this is still a good example of a burial mound of probable Bronze Age date. The site has also previously been interpreted as a Norman motte (earthwork castle).

Related records

Associated Finds

• FSA1165 - DAGGER (Undated)

Associated Events

• ESA1443 - 1961 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1444 - 1970 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA1445 - 1973 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1446 - 1978 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA1447 - 1982 field observation by English Heritage
• ESA1448 - 1991 field observation by Shropshire County Council

Description

".. has the appearance of small Norman motte, probably with it's bailey extending to the Church". <1a>

Bears little resemblance to motte or barrow. Land falls to east, but not a dominating position. There is no trace of a ditch or of a bailey. The mound has a minimum height of 1.4m and its flat and level top has a diameter of 10m . It is 24m in diameter at the base. From the top of the mound is a good all-round view which suggests a Belvedere or a Gazebo. OS FI 1961 <1b>

The mound, which is 1.8m high on the NW and 3m on its SE side, is unlikely to have been the site of a gazebo. The ice house (PRN 19635)) to the south may have avoided the mound as trees were present on it. Slight indications of a ditch on the NW, but no trace of a bailey. Mr Pickering (Mr E R Pickering Church House, Petton) stated that a dagger had been found on the mound and had been given to Shrewsbury Museum but the museum (Mr Michael Pitman Assistant Curator Shrewsbury Museum) had no knowledge of any find made here. Published survey (25") revised. (4) . OS FI 1973. <1c>

This is a small, not particularly impressive motte, with a diameter of approximately 12m across its top, which is flat. The ditch is marked by a band of denser, greener vegetation around the base of the mound, but no bailey was visible. There is a smaller mound on its SW side which is the remains of an ice house (PRN 19635-a listed structure).. The motte is not in good condition. There is some stock erosion, but much more seriously, the motte is falling into the huge gravel pit to its south east....The area of erosion reported by the Field Monument Warden in 1978 is now several metres high and is clearly dangerous. It has been fenced off, but there is probably little that can be done to stop it falling into the pit. W Horton FI 1991 <6>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, Medium score as one of 43 Motte castles <10>

Scheduling affirmed in 1999, at which point interpreted as a bowl barrow. Scheduling description: ->

-> The monument includes the earthwork and buried remains of a Bronze Age bowl barrow, situated on a gentle east facing slope with the ground also falling away to the south east. From this location there are extensive views of the surrounding countryside. Approximately 300m north east of the barrow is a moated site which is the subject of a separate scheduling. ->

-> The barrow mound is constructed of sand and gravel. It is about 23m in diameter and survives to a height of 2m. Although no longer visible at ground level, a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, surrounds part of the mound. This has become infilled over the years and survives as a buried feature, approximately 3m wide. ->

-> Next to the barrow on its southern side there is an ice house, which is Listed Grade II. This structure has cut through the ditch surrounding the barrow mound on this side and is not included in the scheduling. A former sand and gravel quarry, immediately to the east of the barrow and the ice house, has also truncated the ditch surrounding the barrow mound and this area is also not included in the scheduling, although the quarry face is included. The fence separating the monument from the quarry is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it is included. <11>

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.