MSO9185 - Bronze Age barrow and cairn, Rowbarrow Group (Monument)

(SS 87414147 & SS 87464146) Tumuli (NR). [1] Two barrows, 143 feet apart from centre to centre. The first is a disc-barrow, a slight mound surrounded by a nearly circular bank 58 feet in diameter at the crest and 72 feet at the foot of the bank. Indications of an inner ditch. The second barrow east of the first is a cairn of stones much mutilated. No indication of a ditch. Diameter circa 56 feet. [2] Scheduled. [3] Cutcombe 1; SS 87414147, 24 paces across and 1.5 feet high, apparently a saucer barrow. Cutcombe 2; SS 87464146, 17 paces across and 4.5 feet high. Cairn with modern stone heap, much dug away from west and southwest. [4] The feature listed by Grinsell as Cutcombe 1 appears to be a saucer barrow [20,21]. The other feature is a disturbed cairn. Published 1.2500 survey revised. [5] onr or two of the rwobarrows examined incompletely. [6,7] SS 87414147. Cutcombe 1. Apparently a saucer barrow comprising a central mound 32 feet in diameter and 1 foot 6 inches high, enclosed by ditch circa 8ft. wide and outer bank circa 12 ft. wide. The ditch is circa 9 inches deep externally and bank c 9 inches high. Described in error by [2] as a disc barrow. SS 87464146. Cutcombe 2. Cairn surmounted by modern stone heap, listed as [4]. Possibly called White Barrow (see also MSO11326). Both visited by Grinsell 25 May 1958. [8] (SS 87414147) Tumulus (NR) (SS 87464146) Cairn (NR) [9] Additional Bibliography. [10] A ring barrow and a round cairn situated in a prominent position on a rounded hilltop at 510 metres above sea level; part of the linear Rowbarrow group (MSO9183 & MSO9184). SS 8741 4147. An impressive and well preserved ring barrow 22.9 metres in overall diameter with a slightly off centre saucer shaped mound and a slightly subcircular enclosing bank. The mound is 12.7 metres in diameter, 0.3 metres high with a shallow depression in its top where a few random largish stones are evident. The back which apparently gently slopes from south to north varies in width from 2.8 metres on the lower side to 5.2 metres on the upper side. Its height is on average 0.6 metres externally and 0.4 metres internally. The ditch noted by an earlier authority is a misinterpretation of the junction of the edge of the mound and the inner scarp of the bank. The barrow is a variation on the south west cairn platform with rim bank. SS 8745 4146. This heavily disturbed cairn, lying 8.0 metres southeast of the barrow, measures from 14.3 metres to 16.0 metres across and has a maximum height of 1.4 metres. It appears to be mostly composed of small stone although a few larger boulders are visible. The southwest side has been dug away and no traces of kerbing are evident in the exposed sides. Two small, probably modern, cairns have been constructed on its top. Shallow amorphous quarry pits, presumably a source of barrow material,lie between the mounds. No further information was gained on the name "White Barrow". It is not noted on the maps of Day and Masters (1782) or Greenwood (1822). Visible on aerial photographs. [11-14] A well preserved ring barrow and a round cairn, forming part of the Rowbarrow group, are visible as earthworks on aerial photographs, to the west of Dunkery Beacon, centred on circa SS 8742 4147 and SS 8746 4146 resprectively. The diameter of the ring barrow outer enclosing bank measures approximately 20 metres at the outer edge, the inner mound almost 10 metres in diameter. The cairn lies 28 metres south east of the barrow and is almost 10 metres in diameter. Numerous small and shallow quarries, which might be the source of the building material for the monuments, are visible between the mounds. [15-19] In very good condition, completely heather covered. [22] (Barrow) Ring effect most marked. Some loose stones in centre. Scheduled as AM 48a. [23] (Cairn) Scheduled as AM 48b. Other mounds nearby. [28] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave the site a score of 3. [29] 'White Barrow' is shown on Cutcombe Tithe Map further west at approximately SS87004144 (MSO11326) [30] The site was surveyed in April 2015 as part of the 2015 Exmoor Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment. It was given a survival score of 3. [31] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [32] The features are depicted and labelled on the 2021 MasterMap data. [33]