MDE8965 - Possible Bronze Age burial cairns on Rowley Down (Monument)

Two possible Bronze Age burial cairns were noted during field survey. One of these may have been the unnamed circular feature shown on a 1787 map of Rowley Down; otherwise, it may refer to a nearby Bronze Age barrow (MDE1055).

Robert Ballments map of Rowley Down, dated 1797 clearly shows a circular feature without giving it a name or title. It may be a stone circle or perhaps a barrow at SS 6635 4345 . [1] There is no trace of a stone circle or barrow at SS 6635 4345. However a turf covered mound lies 110 metres to the southwest at SS 6626 4338 at about 355 metres on the western summit of the ridge of Rowley Down. It is 7 metres in diameter and 0.4 metres in maximum height. No stone could be detected by probing. Some 40 metres to the northwest in a similar field at SS 6623 4340 is an almost identical mound 7 metres in diameter and 0.3 metres high. Some stone could be detected by probing. There are extensive panoramic views; north across the Bristol Channel to South Wales, eastwards to Exmoor, south to Dartmoor and Brent Tor and westwards to Lundy and the Atlantic. The proximity to other tumuli (MDE1055, some 150 metres to the southeast) and the symmetry of the remains suggests that these are two much reduced prehistoric cairns. (Most probably one was the feature shown on Robert Ballands map of 1797). [1-2] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [3]