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Summary

Natural features incorrectly identified as a barrow cemetery.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SS42NW10
• National Monuments Record: SS42NW12-13
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS42NW/90
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SS42NW12

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• NATURAL FEATURE (Prehistoric - 698000 BC to 42 AD)

Full description

Haswell, B. W., 1975, Bowl Barrow (Worksheet). SDV358684.

Haswell, B. W., 1975, Interim Report on Sites Located and Surveyed by Major B.W. Haswell on Tors Top, Westward Ho! (Un-published). SDV340139.

Barrow cemetery, Kipling Tors.

Haswell, B. W., 1976, Ancient Necropolis with 31 Barrows (Worksheet). SDV358683.

Haswell, B. W., 1976, Barrows (Correspondence). SDV358685.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1977, SS42NW12 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV5823.

The mounds were investigated by Major Haswell in 1974-5 using dowsing methods which revealed a large number of barrows. Nothing significant shows on air photos. The irregularities in the ground appear natural.
Site visit 28th June 1977. There are no surface indications of sites 5, 8-15 and 25 which are in a pasture field with a slight south gradient. The other 20 mounds can be identified to some degree though all are ditchless and merge into the general configuration of the surface with no clearly defined change of slope. These 20 mounds occur at 70 metres Ordnance Datum in pasture fields which mostly slope gently to the south. The sandy topsoil overlies Devonian sandstone beds. The external measurements given by Haswell are generally correct, but beyond this, unorthodox methods have led to assertions which cannot be confirmed/disproved by field investigation (eg 'barrow 29, about 33 metres in diameter with a concealed cist 113 metres by 5 mitres). The mounds are not dealt with on an individual basis since all appear to be harder patches of sandstone which have withstood erosion slightly better than their surrounds. It should be noted that similar features exist widely over the district.

National Trust, 1984, Westward Ho! Kipling Tors, Devon (Report - Survey). SDV341158.

First observed in 1974. Some fossilised bone and other bones found. There are 30 alleged barrows, 20 of which can be identified to some degree, although they merge with the general configuration of the ground. None has a ditch. It is suspected that these "barrows" are harder patches of sandstone which have withstood erosion. The site has now been ploughed up and levelled.

Bayer, O. J., 1996, Barrows in the Torridge District of North West Devon: A Study in Distribution and Location, 16 (Undergraduate Dissertation). SDV319515.

Natural features.

Dick, A. M., 1997, 'Barrow's at Kipling Tors (Site Visit). SDV341159.

Site visit 16th June 1997. Natural features. Examination of one 'barrow' which had been bisected by machinery showed it to be a rock outcrop.

Collings, A. G. + Manning, P. T. + Valentin, J., 2007, The North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Phase 1. Archaeological Survey. Summary Report, No. 663 (Report - Assessment). SDV339712.

Mounds formerly identified as barrows. Re-examination suggests that the features are of natural origin, seeming to represent harder patches of sandstone which have withstood erosion slightly better than their surrounds.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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