Bell barrow 350m north of Haydon Farm

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1010517

Date first listed: 26-Apr-1956

Date of most recent amendment: 22-Jan-1992

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

National Grid Reference: ST 91290 41502

Summary

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Reasons for Designation

Bell barrows, the most visually impressive form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 1500-1100 BC. They occur either in isolation or in round barrow cemeteries and were constructed as single or multiple mounds covering burials, often in pits, and surrounded by an enclosure ditch. The burials are frequently accompanied by weapons, personal ornaments and pottery and appear to be those of aristocratic individuals, usually men. Bell barrows (particularly multiple barrows) are rare nationally, with less than 250 known examples, most of which are in Wessex. Their richness in terms of grave goods provides evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst early prehistoric communities over most of southern and eastern England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a particularly rare form of round barrow, all identified bell barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.

Despite partial excavation in 1964, the ditch and much of the old ground surface beneath the Haydon Farm bell barrow remains intact. Deposits containing environmental evidence and archaeological remains are likely to survive in these areas giving an indication of human activity on the site immediately prior to the construction of the barrow and the landscape in which it was built.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument includes a bell barrow set on level ground 1km south of the River Wylye. The monument was largely excavated in 1964 although parts of the mound as well as much of the berm and most of the ditch remain intact. The barrow mound, now visible as a low rise, was originally 30m in diameter and stood to a height of 2.75m. Excavation produced an open grave with wooden coffin underlying a heaped turf mound. Finds included a bronze dagger, cup and pottery food vessel. Surrounding the mound were a level berm and outer ditch from which material was quarried during construction of the monument. The berm was 4m across and the ditch 2.74m wide and 1.2m deep. Excavation of four narrow ditch sections demonstrated that it had smooth sides while the ditch fill suggested it had been waterlogged in the past.

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: 12347

Legacy System: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Johnston, D E, 'Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine' in Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine, , Vol. 72/73, (1980), 29-50

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.