Three bowl barrows on Ramsdean Down

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.

Despite evidence for partial excavation, the three barrows on Ramsdean Down survive well as good examples of their class, and will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to their construction and use.

Details

The monument includes a group of three bowl barrows on the north-facing slope of Ramsdean Down. The barrows are in a closely-spaced east to west alignment and have shared ditches. The western barrow mound is 22m in diameter and 1.5m high. Surrounding the mound, and visible as a marked step in the natural slope at its south side, is a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. Most of the ditch has become infilled over the years but it survives as a buried feature up to 3m wide. The central barrow mound, only 2m east of the western one, is 18m in diameter and 1.8m high. The quarry ditch is infilled but shows as a step cut into the natural slope south of the barrow mound; elsewhere it survives as a buried feature 2m wide. The eastern barrow mound lies 2m east of the central barrow, it is 20m in diameter and 1.75m high. The quarry ditch is infilled for most of its circuit, but a short section up to 3m wide is visible at the eastern side of the monument; the slope on which this barrow stands is less steep than that to the west and there is no marked step for the ditch to the south of the mound. Large irregular central depressions in each of the barrow mounds indicate that they have been dug into in the past, but there is no known record of antiquarian excavations.

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:

24320

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club in Hampshire Barrows, (1940), 358
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club in Hampshire Barrows, (1940), 258

End of official list entry

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