The Devil's Jumps round barrow cemetery

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Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1010760
Date first listed:: 23-Jul-1963

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1010760
Date first listed:: 23-Jul-1963
Date of most recent amendment:: 10-Jun-1992

Location

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

County:: West Sussex
District:: Chichester (District Authority)
Parish:: Elsted and Treyford
National Park:: SOUTH DOWNS
National Grid Reference:: SU 82477 17317

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 partial excavation of four of the seven barrow mounds, the Devil's Jumps round barrow cemetery survives well and is an outstanding example of its class. This importance is enhanced by the fact that it includes a combination of bell and bowl barrows. Bell barrows are a particularly rare form of round barrow, the majority of the 250 known examples occuring in Wessex. The burials within bell barrows are frequently accompanied by weapons, personal ornaments and pottery and appear to be those of aristocratic individuals, usually men. Their richness in terms of grave goods provides evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst early Prehistoric communities over most of southern England. Bowl barrows on the other hand are the most numerous form of round barrow and, although superficially similar, they exhibit regional variations of form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed). They occur across most of lowland Britain. The survival of bell and bowl barrows within a single cemetery, combined with the wider distribution of barrows within the area, gives a valuable insight into the nature and scale of human occupation in the region during the Bronze Age period.

Details

The monument includes a round barrow cemetery situated on the south face of Treyford Hill, in an area of undulating chalk downland. The cemetery is linear, orientated NE-SW, and consists of five bell barrows and two bowl barrows, one of which is off-line and situated 15m to the north-east of the linear group. The most northerly of the line of barrows is a bell barrow (SU 82371737), the central mound of which has a diameter of 21m and stands to a height of 3m. Around the mound is a flat area of ground, or berm, 3m wide with a surrounding ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This has become partly infilled over the years but survives as a low earthwork 6m wide and c.0.6m deep. The overall diameter of the barrow is 39m. Running between this and the next barrow is a boundary ditch and bank. The ditch is c.1m wide and 0.3m deep with a slight bank along its north-east edge. The second barrow is a bell barrow (SU 82441733) with a central mound 22m in diameter and 2.7m high. Surrounding this is a berm 3m wide and beyond that a ditch 5m wide and 0.8m deep. The overall diameter is 37m. Between the second and third barrows is a later chalk pit which has cut into the ditches of both barrows. The third bell barrow (SU 82471731) is the highest, the central mound standing to a height of 5.3m and is 23m in diameter. The barrow has a 4m wide berm and an outer ditch 6m wide and c.1m deep around it. The overall diameter is 42m. The fourth bell barrow (SU 82511728) has a central mound 26m in diameter and stands to a height of 4.3m. Surrounding the mound is a berm 4m wide and outer ditch 5.5m wide and 0.8m deep. The overall diameter of the barrow is 45m. The fifth bell barrow (SU 82551726) has a mound 20m in diameter and stands to a height of 4.5m. A berm 4m wide and an outer ditch 6m wide and 0.8m deep surround the mound; its overall diameter is 40m. At a distance of 15m south-west of this is a bowl barrow (SU 82591724) surviving as a low earthwork. The barrow mound is 15m in diameter and stands to a height of c.0.3m. The second bowl barrow (SU 82521733) is situated 16m north of the fourth bell barrow. The barrow mound survives as a low earthwork 20m in diameter and is 0.6m high. Both bowl barrows are surrounded by ditches which have become infilled over the years but survive as buried features c.2m wide. Two of the bell barrows and both of the bowl barrows were partially excavated in the late 19th century. Information on the construction of the mounds was obtained, the bowl barrows being constructed of earth while the bell barrow mounds were built up of layers of earth and flints. Both the bell barrows investigated had simple cremation burials laid on the ground surface beneath the mounds. The fencing and fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath 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:: 20011
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Franks, A W, 'Sussex Archaeological Collection' in Sussex Archaeological Collection (Volume 7), , Vol. 7, (1854), 53-54
Grinsell, L V, 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in Sussex Barrows, , Vol. 75, (1934), 223

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 Culture, Media and Sport.