Bowl barrow in Coombe Plantation on Chessell Down: 710m north west of Longstone Cottage

Overview

Location

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 superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. 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 and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The bowl barrow in Coombe Plantation survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the barrow and the landscape in which it was constructed. This is one of several barrows which survive along the chalk ridge near Mottistone Down. It is unusual in this area because of its small size and because it represents an outlier, situated between the Harboro round barrow cemetery on the ridge top to the east and the Pay Down round barrow cemetery to the west.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow set on a north west facing slope above Pay Down. The barrow has a mound 7m in diameter and 0.7m high, surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This has become partly infilled over the years but can still be seen as a slight depression 2m wide and 0.1m deep.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

21987

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
'Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Soc' in Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Society, , Vol. 3, (1940), 182,202

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.