MSO6996 - Possible reused Bronze Age barrow northwest of Barkham (Monument)

Possible ring barrow or platform barrow. The monument consists of a ditched platform approximately 0.5 metres high and 7 paces in diameter with 0.6 metre wide ditch. The site is covered in a fine shorter grass than the surrounding area. [1] Centred at SS 7796 3421 on southeast facing slopes at 391 metres above ordnanace datum is a subcircular ditched mound. It is flat-topped and measures 6.8 metres north to south by 6.9 metres and 0.4 metres high. It is surrounded by a shallow, sharp sided ditch 0.9 metres wide and 0.2 metres deep. The ditch fades on the southern, downslope side; on the northeast there is a short stretch of external bank 0.1 metres high. The purpose of the mound is not clear. Its subcircular shape is reminiscent of a barrow, but the sharply cut encircling ditch suggests that the sharply cut feature is post-medieval. The ditch is clearly a diagnostic feature and can be compared with the sharp ditch which encircles the rectangular and circular mounds on Sherdon Hill (see MSO6799). These features have been interpreted as peat burning mounds and this mound lies close to an area of shallow peat cutting. Its interpretation in this context would not preclude the feature being a prehistoric barrow in origin. [2] The barrow described above is clearly visible on aerial photographs of the area. A second barrow is visible approximately 150 metres northeast of this location (see MSO6997). [3,4] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [5]