Emmas Grove, Coberley (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Coberley.
In the historic county of Gloucestershire.
Modern Authority of Gloucestershire.
1974 county of Gloucestershire.
Medieval County of Gloucestershire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SO93481594
Latitude 51.84203° Longitude -2.09603°

Emmas Grove, Coberley has been described as a Timber Castle but is rejected as such.

There are cropmark/slight earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

Description

Rawes writes "Mound with large ditch, uncertain whether round barrow or motte" quoted from O'Niel and Grinsell. PastScape record three Bronze Age round barrows.

The monument includes three bowl barrows, known as Emma's Grove round barrows, situated below the crest of a hill in the Cotswolds. The southern barrow is the largest, having a mound which measures 32m in diameter, and which is 4.2m high on its western side and 2m high on the east. In the centre of the mound is a large depression about 9m in diameter and 1.2m deep, which is thought to be the result of unrecorded excavation in the past. Surrounding the mound is a ditch up to 4m wide and 1m deep, from which material was excavated during the construction of the barrow. To the north west of the large barrow mound is a second mound, measuring 10m in diameter and 0.6m in height. A third barrow is situated 25m to the north east. This mound measures 12m in diameter and is about 1m high. These two smaller barrows also have depressions in the centre of their mounds which are considered to be the result of unrecorded excavation. Surrounding each of the smaller mounds are ditches from which material was excavated during the construction of the barrows. These ditches are no longer visible at ground level, having become infilled over the years, but survive as buried features about 2m wide. The three barrows appear to represent at least two phases of construction, with the two smaller barrows predating the larger barrow. (Scheduling Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1017079, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number 32381
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 117447.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 166.

Books
- Witts, G.B., 1883, Archaeological handbook of the county of Gloucester, being an explanatory description of the archaeological map of Gloucestershire p. 100 Nos 24, 25 and 26
Periodical Articles
- Staelens, Y.J.E., 1982, 'The Birdlip Cemetery' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol. 100 p. 21 (as barrow) online copy
  Rawes, B., 1977, 'A Check List of Castles and other Fortified Sites of Medieval Date in Gloucestershire' Glevensis Vol. 11 p. 39-41 online copy
  O'Neil, H. and Grinsell, L.V., 1960, 'Gloucestershire Barrows, Lists: Round Barrows, Gloucestershire' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol. 79 Part 1 p. 109 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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