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Summary

Bronze Age bowl barrow on hill top adjoining the roadside hedge, and cut by a quarry, to the south-west of Otterburn Farm. The barrow was excavated in the late 19th century. A platform of small fired stones strewn with charcoal and wood ash was found in the centre of the barrow on the original ground level. Nearby was a pit containing calcined animal bones. An amber pendant was also found in the barrow and a few potsherds dated to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age. The whereabouts of the pendant is not known.

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1016221: Bowl barrow 240m south west of Lane End
• SHINE: Prehistoric bowl barrow south-west of Otterburn Farm

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS40SW/12
• Old SAM Ref: 28644
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SS40SW5

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BOWL BARROW (LANEBA to Late Bronze Age - 2500 BC to 701 BC (Between))

Full description

Worth, R. N., 1896, 15th Report of the Barrow Committee, 86-9 (Article in Serial). SDV17612.

A bowl barrow in a field called Burrow Park Tolly, and partly destroyed on the east side by quarrying, was excavated circa 1895 by Burnard. A platform of small flat fired stones 12 feet by 6 feet and 1 foot deep, strewn with charcoal and wood ash, was found at the centre of the barrow on the original ground level; nearby was a pit 4.5 feet by 3 feet and 4 feet deep, filled with earth and calcined animal bones. An amber pendant three quarter of an inch long was found 15 inches below the top of the barrow; it is now apparently lost. Animal bones and a few potsherds of Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age were also found. Other details: Cited by Grinsell.

Worth, R. H., 1902, 21st Report of the Barrow Committee, 108-37 (Article in Serial). SDV20971.

Burnard, R., 1906, Early Man, 363 (Article in Monograph). SDV322231.

Worth, R. H., 1937, 56th Report of the Barrow Committee, 81-2 (Article in Serial). SDV20973.

Fox, A., 1948, The Broad Down (Farway) Necropolis and the Wessex Culture in Devon, 12,13,16 (Article in Serial). SDV123165.

Present whereabouts of pendant cannot be traced. Other details: Letter from R. H. Worth.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1950 - 1978, SS40SW5 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV20964.

Visited on 17th April 1951. This barrow, apparently of the bowl type, has been greatly despoiled.
Visited on 7th November 1978. This barrow in an arable field has been quarried and re-filled on the eastern side, distorting slightly its original shape so that it is now elongated east-west. The barrow is low and spread by ploughing, it measures approx 27 metres east-west by 24 metres north-south, with a height of 0.6 metres.

Grinsell, L. V., 1970, The Barrows of North Devon, 119 (Article in Serial). SDV7849.

Diameter 30 paces, height 5ft, under grass.

Devon Committee for Rescue Archaeology, 1979 - 1981, North Devon Barrow Survey, DCRA ND88 (Archive - Survey). SDV341310.

Visited on 27th September and 28th November 1979. Dameter 24.8 metres, height 1.02 metres. Large tree growing on mound. Cut by hedge on east, and also by pit dug into barrow. Much flattened at present in pasture. No visible ditch. Poor condition.

Carson, A., 1982, Barrow (Worksheet). SDV20962.

Field containing this barrow is now used as a cricket pitch. Barrow adjoins roadside hedge, and this side has been distorted by quarrying and ploughing. More earth was removed when part of a tree growing on the barrow fell. Barrow is greatly reduced but still covers large area.

Bayer, O. J., 1996, Barrows in the Torridge District of North West Devon: A Study in Distribution and Location, Halwill 1 (Undergraduate Dissertation). SDV319515.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 1997, Bowl Barrow 240 Metres South-west of Lane End (Schedule Document). SDV20963.

A Bronze Age bowl barrow situated on the summit of a hill to the north east of Halwill overlooking the valleys of two tributaries of the River Carey to the north and east. The upland area in which it lies supports a concentration of barrows, most of which are situated on ridges. The monument survives as an elongated oval mound which measures 27 metres long from east to west and 25 metres wide from north to south and is 0.8 metres high. The ditch, from which material to construct the mound was derived, survives as a 2 metres wide buried feature. The mound and ditch have been cut by a quarry to the east, which has been partly backfilled. The site was part excavated by Burnard in 1895. A platform of small, flat, fired stones which measured 3.6 metres long, 1.8 metres wide and 0.3 metres high was found at the centre of the mound and this was covered with charcoal and ash. A pit was also found nearby which measured 1.36 metres long, 1 metre wide and 1.2 metres deep. This contained calcined animal bone. Also recovered were a few sherds of Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age pottery and an amber pendant.

Exeter Archaeology, 2004, Summary Archaeological Assessment of the Proposed Site of the new Primary School, Halwill Junction, 6 (Report - Assessment). SDV1968.

Ordnance Survey, 2009, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV341569.

Barrow depicted, opposite Hillcrest.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV1455 - BEAD (LANEBA - 2500 BC to 2001 BC)
• FDV1454 - SHERD (LANEBA - 2500 BC to 2001 BC)

Associated Events

• EDV4415 - Devon Barrow Survey

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