Bowl barrow in woodland on Shalcombe Down: 200m south west of Shalcombe Manor

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1007787

Date first listed: 11-Jul-1994

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

National Grid Reference: SZ 39342 85513

Summary

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

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 on Shalcombe Down will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the barrow and the landscape in which it was constructed. This is one of a number of barrows which survive in the area of Shalcombe Down.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow set on a north east facing slope on Shalcombe Down.

The barrow has a mound which measures 10m in diameter and is 0.6m high. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This has become partially infilled over the years but can still be seen as a depression 2.5m wide and 0.6m deep. On the north east side the barrow extends into a 'tail', a recent feature composed of a bank and ditch. The bank is 0.4m high and c.3m wide. The ditch on its south side is c.0.4m deep and c.1m wide. This 'tail' is connected with a trench, now filled in, for a water-main cut across the mound.

The water-main which crosses the barrow is excluded from the scheduling together with the ground above it, but the ground beneath it is included.

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: 21994

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), 201

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.