MDE1225 - Bronze Age bowl barrow on Brendon Common (Monument)

Summary

A Bronze Age bowl barrow has been disturbed by a central pit dug into the summit. This may have been in connection with military activity during World War Two. There is a military antiquity star adjacent.

Please read the Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record .

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

  • None recorded

Full Description

SS 7629 4528. Tumulus (NR) [1] Brendon Common. A bowl barrow 10 paces in diameter and 2 feet high. Gutted in the centre. Visited 1958. [2] A heather covered cairn, 9.0 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres high. Excavated to ground level in the centre exposing its stone content, part of which has been utilized for a small modern cairn, near the east side, to support the post of a military 'Antiquity Star'. Published 1:2500 survey revised. [3] No change to barrow. Star still there. A number of small mounds are visible in vicinity of this barrow. [4] A barrow centred at SS 7629 4528. The feature lies on open heather moorland. Recent controlled burning of the moorland has clearly exposed the western half of the barrow, revealing the overall spread of the mound. It is 17.8 metres in diameter north to south by 16.8 metres and is 0.6 metres high. A central pit 4 metres square and 0.4 metres deep has been dug into its top. The spoil from the pit has been used to create a small stony cairn on the southern side which is 2.3 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres high. A post supporting an Antiquity Star is set into the cairn. This disturbance is most likely to be associated with the World World Two use of Brendon Common as a military training area and ranges (see MSO7776). [5] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [9]

Sources/Archives (9)

  • <1> Map: Ordnance Survey. 1962. 6 Inch Map: 1962. 1:10560.
  • <2> Article in serial: Grinsell, L.V.. 1970. The Barrows of North Devon. Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Society. 28.
  • <3> Unpublished document: STONE, J.W.. Field Investigators Comments. Ordnance Survey visit, F1, 24 September 1974.
  • <4> Archive: Devon County Council. Various. Devon SMR / HER records / parish files - Exmoor records. S Timms, 2 February 1983, worksheet.
  • <5>XY Unpublished document: Wilson-North, R.. Various. Field Investigators Comments. RCHME Field Investigation, 16 November 1993. [Mapped feature: #46923 ]
  • <6> Aerial photograph: Royal Air Force. 1946 -1948. Vertical Aerial Photography. RAF/CPE/UK/1980.4073 (April 1947.).
  • <7> Aerial photograph: Meridian Air Maps. 1977-1978. Infrared False Colour Aerial Photography. MAM/13/054 (May 1977).
  • <8> Unpublished document: McDonnell, R.. 1980. Gazetteer of Sites in the Exmoor National Park Identified through Aerial Photography. SS7654b.
  • <9> Digital archive: Historic England. Various. National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) entry. 35118, Extant 6 December 2021.

External Links (0)

Other Statuses/References

  • Devon SMR (Devonshire): SS74NE/514
  • Devon SMR Monument ID: 12223
  • Exmoor National Park HER Number (now deleted): MDE20276
  • Local List Status (Unassessed)
  • National Monuments Record reference: SS 74 NE6
  • NRHE HOB UID (Pastscape): 35118

Map

Location

Grid reference SS 7629 4528 (point)
Map sheet SS74NE
Civil Parish BRENDON, NORTH DEVON, DEVON

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Events/Activities (2)

Record last edited

Dec 6 2021 1:02PM

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