Bowl barrow 340m south east of Freshwater Bay Golf Clubhouse: part of a round barrow cemetery on Afton Down

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1007792
Date first listed:: 13-Jul-1994

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1007792
Date first listed:: 13-Jul-1994

Location

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

District:: Isle of Wight (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Freshwater
National Grid Reference:: SZ 35520 85702

Reasons for Designation

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite being damaged during landscaping of the golf course, the bowl barrow on Afton Down will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the barrow cemetery and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a west facing hillside overlooking the coastline on the south western part of the Isle of Wight. The barrow has a mound which measures 12m in diameter and is c.1m high. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This has become infilled over the years and can no longer be seen at ground level, but survives as a buried feature c.2.5m wide. The barrow was located by Dr D Tomalin in 1977.

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:: 21999
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
'Proceeding of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Soc' in Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Society, , Vol. 1, (1929), 656
Other
Pers. Comm. Dr. D. Tomalin SMR No 168, I. O. W. County Council, I. O. W. County Council SMR, (1977)

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 Culture, Media and Sport.