A twin barrow and bowl barrow 1.6km WSW of Cheverton Farm: part of a round barrow cemetery on Cheverton Down

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1008306
Date first listed:: 23-Oct-1967

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1008306
Date first listed:: 23-Oct-1967
Date of most recent amendment:: 03-Mar-1994

Location

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

District:: Isle of Wight (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Shorwell
National Grid Reference:: SZ 44295 84165

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 partial antiquarian investigation of one of the mounds of the twin barrow, the twin barrow and bowl barrow on Cheverton Down survive well and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the cemetery and the landscape in which it was constructed. The twin barrow is one of very few examples on the Isle of Wight.

Details

The monument includes a twin barrow and a bowl barrow aligned broadly north- south and situated in a downland setting, below the crest on an east facing ridge, with deep valleys to the north and southeast. The twin barrow has two confluent mounds aligned northwest-southeast which measure 18.5m and 20m north-south and 16.5m and 19m east-west and are 1.9m and 2m high repectively. Surrounding both mounds is a ditch from which material was quarried during their construction. This has become infilled over the years and can no longer be seen at ground level, but survives as a buried feature c.4m wide. The northwestern mound of the twin barrow has a central depression which is the result of unrecorded antiquarian excavation. The bowl barrow to the SSE of the twin barrow has a mound which measures 22m in diameter and is c.1m high. Surrounding the mound is a ditch which has also become infilled over the years, but survives as a buried feature c.4m wide.

The field boundary bank which crosses the twin barrow is included in the scheduling. The post and wire fence which crosses the twin barrow is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath 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:: 22004
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, , Sherwin, , 'Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Soc' in Procedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Soc, , Vol. 3, (1940), 206

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.