MSO9183 - Little Rowbarrow (Monument)

A well defined Bronze Age burial cairn west of Dunkery Beacon, measuring 19 metres in diameter and up to 1.4 metres high. It has been disturbed on the west side and has a central depression. Summary from record MMO143: A well defined Bronze Age cairn is clearly visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs to the west of Dunkery Beacon. The mound is roughly oval in shape, measuring 19 metres on the south-west to north-east axis and 17 metres north-west to south-east. Ground investigation recorded a maximum height of 1.4 metres. There is evidence of disturbance on the west side and material from the central depression has been piled around the top.

(SS 87884156) Little Rowbarrow (NR). [1] Tumulus, known as 'Little Rowbarrows' probably composed chiefly of stone. It has been dug into considerably in the middle. Diameter about 65 feet, height 5 feet 6 inches. [2] Scheduled. [3] Cutcombe 4. A cairn with a hollow entre. 23 paces in diameter and 4 feet 6 inches high. SS 8786 4155. Cutcombe 4 is named Little Barrow on the Tithe Map of 1840. Cutcombe 4a. "One or two of Rowbarrows had been examined incompletely" on 2 November 1807 (MSO9183, MSO9184 & MSO9185 are known as "Rowbarrows') [6,7] [4] This is a cairn 15 metres high. A large hole has been dug in the centre. Published survey (25 inch) revised. [5] Additional Bibliography. [8] SS 8788 4156. Little Rowbarrow, a fairly well defined cairn situated on the top of a rounded hill at 503 metres above sea level. Composed of both large and small stones, it measures 19.0 metres in diameter with a maximum height of 1.4 metres; the central depression is 4.8 metres in diameter and about 0.5 metres deep. The heather-covered sides are fairly sharply defined although there is evidence of disturbance (? Excavation trench) on the west side, and material from the central depression has been piled around the top edge. A crude (? Modern) 1.0 metres high cairn has been constructed on the upper east side. There are no quarry pits near this cairn as occur with the others of the group (MSO9184, MSO9185). Visible on aerial photographs. [9-11] The cairn is as described in [7] and lies at SS 87876 41563. It was surveyed using GPS as part of the RCHME East Exmoor project [12] The well defined Bronze Age cairn known as Little Rowbarrow is clearly visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs to the west of Dunkery Beacon, centred on circa SS 87874156. The mound is roughly oval in shape, measuring 19 metres on the southwest to northeast axis and 17 metres northwest to southeast. An irregularly shaped central depression approximately 6 metres in diameter is visible near the centre of the top of the mound. [10,13] Mostly heather covered. Large stones thrown from centre of cairn, otherwise in good condition. [15] Most easterly of the group, a heather covered mound probably of stone. Dug into centre, with a cavity circa 12 feet from east to west and 3 feet deep. Greatest part 5.5 feet above the moor. [16] Scheduled as AM 48d. Other mounds nearby. [17] The Scheduled Monument Condition Assessment of 2009 gave the site a score of 3. [21] 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. [22] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [23]