The Butts round barrow cemetery

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.

The Butts round barrow cemetery survives comparatively well within the New Forest. Although some of the barrow mounds have been reduced in size or partially disturbed, all of the barrows retain undisturbed remains and the cemetery as a whole has considerable archaeological potential. The New Forest region is known to have been important in terms of lowland Bronze Age occupation and a considerable amount of archaeological evidence has survived because of a lack of agricultural activity, the result of later climatic deterioration, development of heath and the establishment of a Royal Forest.

Details

This monument includes six bowl barrows forming The Butts round barrow cemetery, situated on lowland heath overlooking Islands Thorns Inclosure. During the late 19th century local antiquarians J R Wise and Rev Bartlett carried out partial excavation of some of the barrows; hollows in four of the mounds survive as evidence of these excavations. Although no longer visible at ground level, each barrow is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the mounds. These have become infilled over the years but survive as buried features between 1.5m and 2m wide. The individual barrows within the cemetery can be described as follows: (SU 21431567) The barrow mound measures 13m in diameter and 0.9m high. This barrow was one of those excavated by Wise who found charcoal, burnt bone and a stone hammer beneath an earth mound capped by flints. (SU 21441569) The barrow mound measures 16m in diameter and 1.3m high. This barrow was partially excavated by Wise who found a patch of charcoal beneath a gravel and earth mound. The location of this excavation is still visible as a T-shaped hollow in the centre of the mound. (SU 21411566) The barrow mound measures 11m in diameter and 0.9m high. (SU 21401566) The barrow mound measures 9m long, 7m wide and 0.5m high and a hollow in the centre of the mound suggests that it is one of the mounds investigated by Rev Bartlett. (SU 21391565) The barrow mound measures 16m in diameter and 0.9m high. A hollow in the centre suggests partial excavation by Rev Bartlett. (SU 21411569) The barrow mound is flat-topped and measures 12m in diameter and 0.3m high.

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:

20297

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Wise, J R, The New Forest, (1893), 209

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