MSO7317 - Two Bowl Barrows, Doverhay Down (Monument)

Two Bronze Age bowl barrows on Doverhay Down, visible as turf covered mounds measuring 9.6m in diameter and 0.6m high, and 6.4m in diameter and 0.4m high. One is a scheduled monument. Summary from record MMO135: Two Bronze Age bowl barrows are visible both on aerial photographs and at ground level as turf-covered mounds, located on the summit of Doverhay Down. Posts have been erected around one to prevent erosion from horses. Two other probable barrows lie within 250 metres.

SS 886 454. Round barrow. Doverhay Down. Scheduled. [1] There are two bowl barrows in this vicinity. 'A' The larger, at SS 88404508, is 1.0 metre high [10,11] 'B' The other, at SS 8854 4523, is 0.9 metres high [8,9]. Surveyed at 1:2500. [2] 'A' (SS 8843 4511) Tumulus (NR) 'B' (SS 8856 4523) Tumulus (NR) [3] 'B'. SS 8860 4524. Luccombe 9. Bowl barrow 8 paces diameter and 2 feet high. Visited by Grinsell 31st May 1969 when under heath. 'A'. SS 8858 4524. Luccombe 9a. Mound 3 paces diameter and 0.5 feet high, 8 paces west of Luccombe 9. Visited by Grinsell 31st May 1969 when under heath. "Stone-heap or very small barrow?". [4] SS 886 454. Doverhay Down round barrow. Scheduled. (Barrow 'B' only). [5,6] Two barrows on Doverhay Down. 1a is centred at SS 8843 4510 close to the farm track leading to Woodcocks Ley. It comprises a circular turf-covered mound 9.6 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres high. It is covered in gorse, heather and bracken, but appears intact. Surveyed with GPS. 1b is centred at SS 8856 4524 and comprises a very pronounced turf-covered mound 6.4 metres in diameter and 0.4 metres high. (It had been recently burnt off at the time of field visit.) It appears to be intact, but lies in the `V' of two converging paths, and three posts have been erected to protect it from horses riding over it. [7] 'B' In good condition, covered in bracken and heather. [14] 'B' is 10 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres high. [15] 'A' is in good condition but covered with bracken. [16] The bowl barrows described above are visible on several aerial photographs as low mounds close to the summit of Doverhay Down. Two other prehistoric barrows lie within 250 metres of these monuments (MSO7425 & MSO7426). [17,18] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave Barrow B a survival score of 10. [19] The site was surveyed in June 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. It was given a survival score of 9. [20] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [21]