MSO8667 - Bronze Age bowl barrow on Withypool Common (Monument)

[SS 82123708] Tumulus (NR) [1] Withypoole No. 5, a bowl barrow 10 paces diameter and 2.5 feet. high with a hollow in the centre. [2] This is a bowl barrow 0.6 metres high. Published survey (1/2500) revised. [3] Is one of a chain of mounds, thought to be the result of military activity. [4,5] A prehistoric barrow, consisting of a subcircular, stony mound measuring 9.8 metres (north to south) by 10.8 metres, and 0.9 metres high. The barrow has been mutilated and robbed, so that the eastern half is spread and some 0.3 metres lower than the west. A sharp east facing scarp marks this change in level. In addtion, a subcircular, vertical sided hollow, 2.2 metres in diameter, and 0.3 metres deep has been dug into the summit of the western part of the barrow, and is reached through a 0.3 metres wide, vertical sided gulley leading into it from the east. Further, a pronounced "berm" or step is visible on the southern scarp of the barrow. This does not appear to be an original feature, and may be the result of the overburden from the summit hollow being thrown down the slopes of the mound. The barrow lies within an area of ridging and field boundaries (see MSO8736). Vegetation: deep gorse and heather. [6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7] The feature is depicted and labelled "Tumulus" on the 2021 MasterMap data. [8]