Bowl barrow, the north westernmost barrow of a group of six bowl barrows, forming part of a linear round barrow cemetery on Rookery Hill

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.

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. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally, and many more have already been destroyed. Despite some disturbance caused by modern ploughing and past excavation, the bowl barrow on Rookery Hill survives well and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. The prehistoric round barrow cemetery of which the monument forms a part survives particularly well, and is one of the best examples of this type of monument to be found on the East Sussex Downs. These prehistoric barrows are the earliest known structures on Rookery Hill, and their close association with later monuments, including a hlaew, or early medieval burial mound, and nearby traces of subsequent occupation dating to the Iron Age, the Roman and early medieval periods, provide evidence for the continuity of burial, settlement and agriculture in this area of Downland over a period of at least 3000 years.

Details

The monument includes the north westernmost bowl barrow of a group of six which form a north west-south east aligned, linear round barrow cemetery. It is situated along a spur of the Sussex Downs, around 1.2km to the north of the English Channel. The barrow has a mound 19m in diameter and c.2m high, which has been clipped on its south western periphery by modern ploughing. A slight, central hollow indicates that the barrow has been partially excavated some time in the past. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material used to construct the barrow was excavated. This has become infilled over the years, but survives as a buried feature around 2m wide. The modern fences which cross the monument, and the modern stile situated towards its south eastern edge, are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath these features 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:

25487

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
ref. 2, Grinsell, LV, TQ 40 SE 38, (1930)
F1 PAS (Ordnance Survey surveyor), TQ 40 SE 38, ref 4, (1972)

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