MSO10918 - Bronze Age round barrow west of Elsworthy (Monument)

A round barrow of probable Bronze Age date is visible both on the ground and from the air as a circular stone and earthen mound. It has a subrectangular pit dug in its centre, possibly the remains of an antiquarian excavation pit.

SS 8045 4121. Exmoor 6, a bowl barrow 20 paces across and 3 feet high. Exposed stone may be a cist. Found by Mrs Wilson of Filleigh in 1960. Visited by Grinsell 24th April 1962. [1] At SS 8048 4112 is a circular mound 1.1 metres high with a hollow 1.2 metres deep in its centre; there is no trace of a cist. It is probably a bowl barrow, but might conceivably be upcast from a mining trial pit, as the hollow in the centre goes below ground level and there are mining trial pits in the area. (See GP AO/65/174/3 & 4 Stereo pair). Surveyed at 1:2500. [2-4] Substantial earth and stone bank around central depression, water filled. Some attempt to drain it out. Barrow 32 paces diameter, 1.5m high with hollow 16 paces diameter. [5] A well-defined, circular, stone and earthen barrow. It is 16.9 metres in diameter and 0.9 metres high. It occupies a ridgetop position, and has panoramic views. The area in which it lies is one of former peat cutting and dense molinia grass. The barrow itself is covered in short grass and reeds. A subrectangular pit, 7.6 metres west to east by 6.2 metres, has been dug into the centre of the barrow to ground level. A linear hollowing or trench, 1.7 metres wide and 0.3 metres deep, running northwest to southeast emerges from either side of the hollow. All of this disturbance is probably an antiquarian excavation; it is too deep to be interpreted as the result of casual digging or robbing. [7] The barrow earthworks have been transcribed from aerial photographs as part of the Exmoor National Mapping Programme project. On aerial photographs of 1973 the barrow appears to measure over 20 metres in diameter. This variation from the dimensions observed by authority 5 may be due to the covering of dense molinia grass distorting extent of the earthwork. Extensive peat cuttings come within two metres of the mound but do not appear to have impacted directly upon the earthwork. [8-9] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [10] The feature is depicted and labelled "Tumulus" on the 2021 MasterMap data. [11]