Roman road across Iping Common and bowl barrow 180m north west of Fitzhall Lodge: part of Fitzhall Heath round barrow cemetery

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 evidence of partial excavation, the bowl barrow 180m north west of Fitzhall Lodge survives comparatively well and has the potential for the recovery of archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which it was constructed. The cemetery represents one of many such monuments to survive in the area, giving an insight into the intensity with which the area was occupied during the Bronze Age as well as the related distribution of burial monuments. In addition to the Bronze Age barrow the monument includes a length of well preserved Roman road. These monuments provide information on the passage and extent of the Roman conquest of Britain and the civil engineering skills of their builders. The length of Roman road which crosses Iping Common survives comparatively well and is in a stable condition. It has potential for the recovery of structural and artefactual archaeological remains as well as environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which the road was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, part of Fitzhall Heath round barrow cemetery, and an adjacent length of Roman road, both situated on a ridge in the Greensand 3.5km north of the South Downs. The complete cemetery consists of 8 bowl barrows running east-west. Those to the east of the cemetery are closely spaced while those to the west are more dispersed. All the barrows survive as earthworks and have mounds ranging in size from 12m to 26m in diameter and 0.25m to 2.5m high. This barrow has a mound which measures 21m in diameter and 2.5m high. Surrounding this is a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument and which has become infilled over the years. This survives as a buried feature c.3m wide. A hollow in the centre of the mound suggests that the barrow was once partially excavated. This barrow is the central one in the group and the ditch on its eastern edge has been cut through by the construction of a Roman road which at this point runs in a north-south direction at right angles to the line of the cemetery. The road survives as an upstanding earthwork to the south, where it crosses the barrow cemetery. It has a central upstanding agger, or trackway, 6.5m wide and 0.8m high with a ditch 4m wide and 0.5m deep to the east and 4.5m wide and 0.5m deep to the west. Towards the north of the barrow it has been more disturbed and eroded surviving as a series of hollows with the flanking ditches surviving as buried features. The line of the road can be seen plainly on aerial photographs and survives as a length 650m long. The road ran between Chichester and Silchester, connecting the two regional capitals. The three bowl barrows to the east of the Roman road do not actually impinge on it, the closest being c.10m away, and are being scheduled separately.

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:

20041

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Margary, I D, Roman Roads in Britain, (1973)
Grinsell, L V, Sussex Archaeological Collections in Sussex Barrows, Vol. 75, (1934)

End of official list entry

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