Bell barrow situated 50m north of Normanton Gorse and 170m south of the A303

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1012370

Date first listed: 10-Mar-1925

Date of most recent amendment: 05-Apr-1995

Location

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

National Grid Reference: SU 11502 41610

Summary

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

Reasons for Designation

A small number of areas in southern England appear to have acted as foci for ceremonial and ritual activity during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. Two of the best known and earliest recognised areas are around Avebury and Stonehenge, now jointly designated as a World Heritage Site. The area of chalk downland which surrounds Stonehenge contains one of the densest and most varied groups of Neolithic and Bronze Age field monuments in Britain. Included within the area are Stonehenge itself, the Stonehenge cursus, the Durrington Walls henge, and a variety of burial monuments, many grouped into cemeteries. The area has been the subject of archaeological research since the 18th century when Stukeley recorded many of the monuments and partially excavated a number of the burial mounds. More recently, the collection of artefacts from the surfaces of ploughed fields has supplemented the evidence for ritual and burial by revealing the intensity of contemporary settlement and land-use. In view of the importance of the area, all ceremonial and sepulchral monuments of this period which retain significant archaeological remains are identified as nationally important. 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 1600-1300 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 are rare nationally, with less than 250 known examples, many of which are in Wessex and around 30 of which are in the Stonehenge area. This group of monuments will provide important information on the development of this area during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.

The bell barrow situated 50m north of Normanton Gorse is well preserved and is known from partial excavation to contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

History

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

Details

The monument includes a bell barrow situated 50m north of Normanton Gorse and 170m south of the A303, with views to the north east towards Stonehenge and to the south east across Normanton Down. The barrow mound is 28m in diameter and 3.5m high. Surrounding the mound is a berm 7m wide and a ditch 7m wide and 0.75m deep, from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument, giving an overall diameter of 56m. Partial excavation in the 19th century revealed a skeleton lying on an elm plank, accompanied by a grooved dagger found in a wooden box and a crushed decorated drinking cup. All fence posts are excluded from the scheduling but 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: 10314

Legacy System: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, LV, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume V, (1957), 207
Hoare, R C, Ancient History of Wiltshire, (1812), 205-206

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.