Two round barrows SE of Berwick chalk pit

Summary

Two bowl barrows, 855m NNW of Meadowdown.

Reasons for Designation

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period.

Although they have been reduced in height and suffered disturbance from agricultural activity, the two bowl barrows, 855m NNW of Meadowdown will contain archaeological information and environmental evidence relating to the barrows and the landscape in which they were constructed.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 3 March 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes two bowl barrows situated on a ridge of chalk downland north-west of Winton Chalk Pit on the South Downs. The South Downs Way runs a short distance to the west. The barrows have been reduced in height by agricultural activity and survive as slight earthworks and buried archaeological remains. The northernmost barrow survives as a roughly circular-shaped mound about 7m in diameter and 0.3m high. The second bowl barrow is a few metres to the south-east. It a broadly circular-shaped mound about 12m in diameter and no more than 0.6m high. Soil has been dumped on top of the mound in the past, altering its height and shape.

The two barrows are shown on Sussex OS maps (1:2500) of 1874, 1899, 1910 and 1928. A third bowl barrow, associated with the above barrows, is recorded in documentary sources but is now thought to have been levelled by ploughing.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

ES 282

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
East Sussex HER MES2677. NMR TQ50SW10. PastScape 408635

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry