Reasons for Designation
Platform barrows, funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (2000-700 BC),
are the rarest of the recognised types of round barrow, with fewer than 50
examples recorded nationally. They occur widely across southern England with a
marked concentration in East and West Sussex and can occur either in barrow
cemeteries (closely-spaced groups of barrows) or singly. They were constructed
as low, flat-topped mounds of earth surrounded by a shallow ditch,
occasionally crossed by an entrance causeway. None of the known examples
stands higher than 1m above ground level, and most are considerably lower than
this. Due to their comparative visual insignificance when compared to the
larger types of round barrow, few were explored by 19th century antiquarians.
As a result, few platform barrows are disturbed by excavation and,
consequently, they remain a poorly understood class of monument. Their
importance lies in their potential for illustrating the diversity of beliefs
and burial practices in the Bronze Age and, due to their extreme rarity and
considerable fragility, all identified platform barrows would normally be
considered to be of national importance.
Despite being disturbed by past exploration, the two platform barrows survive
well and are unusual in their pairing. Also surviving within the group is a
bowl barrow. Although bowl barrows are the most numerous class of round
barrows, its close association with the two platform barrows is unusual.
Considered as a group the monument has considerable potential for the survival
of archaeological evidence relating to the use and development of the site and
of environmental material allowing an understanding of the landscape in which
it was constructed.
Details
The monument includes a group of three barrows orientated NNE-SSW and
situated on an east facing slope alongside the A338. The most southerly of
the group comprises a low, circular, flat topped platform barrow, 16m in
diameter and 0.6m high. A continuous raised bank 4.3m wide and 0.3m high runs
around the rim of the platform, while the interior area of the platform is
level and appears largely undisturbed. Surrounding the barrow was a ditch
from which material for the bank was quarried and thrown onto the rim of the
platform.
Today this is infilled and cannot be recognised on the ground, though its
existence is confirmed by the records of a past excavation.
The middle barrow of the group, the largest of the three, is also a
platform barrow and similarly comprises a substantial circular platform
22m in diameter and 0.9m high. The platform is again surmounted by a
continuous raised bank of chalk rubble construction, 4.5m wide and 0.9m high
which runs around the rim of the platform. The interior of the barrow is
hollowed and appears disturbed, probably the result of past exploration of the
monument. Surrounding the platform was a ditch from which material for the
barrow was quarried. This has been largely infilled over the years but still
survives as an earthwork 5m wide and 0.4m deep around the north-west quarter
of the site.
The most northerly barrow of the group is the smallest of the three and has
the form of a bowl barrow comprising a circular mound and surrounding ditch.
The mound has a diameter of 12m and stands to a height of 0.5m, the top being
slightly flattened, possibly the result of exploration at some time in the
past. Although no longer visible on the ground, a ditch, from which material
was quarried to construct the monument, surrounds the mound surviving as a
buried feature c.2m wide.
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.
