Disc barrow on Fargo Road

Reasons for Designation

A small number of areas in southern England appear to have acted as foci for ceremonial and ritual activity during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Two of the best known and earliest recognised areas are around Avebury and Stonehenge, now jointly designated as a World Heritage Site. The area of chalk downland which surrounds Stonehenge contains one of the densest and most varied groups of Neolithic and Bronze Age field monuments in Britain. Included within the area are Stonehenge itself, the Stonehenge cursus, the Durrington Walls henge, and a variety of burial monuments, many grouped into cemeteries. The area has been the subject of archaeological research since the 18th century when Stukeley recorded many of the monuments and partially excavated a number of the burial mounds. More recently, the collection of artefacts from the surfaces of ploughed fields has supplemented the evidence for ritual and burial by revealing the intensity of contemporary settlement and land-use. In view of the importance of the area, all ceremonial and sepulchral monuments of this period which retain significant archaeological remains are identified as nationally important. Disc barrows, the most fragile type of round barrow, are funerary monuments of the Early Bronze Age, with most examples dating to the period 1400-1200 BC. They occur either in isolation or in round barrow cemeteries. Disc barrows were constructed as a circular or oval area of level ground defined by a bank and internal ditch and containing one or more central or eccentrically located small, low mounds, covering burials, usually in pits. The burials, normally cremations, are frequently accompanied by pottery vessels, tools and personal ornaments. It has been suggested that disc barrows were normally used for the burial of women, although this remains unproven. However, it is likely that the individuals buried were of high status. Disc barrows are rare nationally, with about 250 examples, many of which are in Wessex. Twenty-nine examples are known from the Stonehenge area. Their richness in terms of grave goods provides important evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst prehistoric communities over a wide area of southern England, as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation.

Despite removal of an east-west section by the downcutting of Fargo Road, the disc barrow is known from partial excavation to contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument, which falls into two constraint areas, includes a disc barrow immediately south of Fargo Road on Durrington Down. The barrow is no longer visible on the ground but is partially represented on the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map of 1972 from which it is seen to be oval in shape with dimensions of c.30m east-west and c.38m north-south. Partial excavation in the 19th century produced a large urn. The central section of the barrow has been removed by the downcutting of Fargo Road. The post and wire fences which cross the monument from east to west on both sides of the road are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath them 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:

10408

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Hoare, R C, Ancient History of Wiltshire, (1812), 167
Grinsell, LV, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume V, (1957), 218

End of official list entry

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