Bowl barrow 340m east of Eaglehead Copse, forming part of a Bronze Age 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.

Despite having been levelled, the bowl barrow 340m east of Eaglehead Copse is integral to the Middle West Down cemetery and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the cemetery and the landscape in which it was constructed. The old ground surface and the surrounding quarry ditch, from which material was quarried during construction of the monument, will survive as buried features.

Details

The monument includes a levelled bowl barrow on a north facing slope just below the crest of the hill. The barrow forms part of a wider cemetery on Middle West Down which includes at least 17 barrows, five of which can be identified at ground level. This barrow no longer has a recognisable mound and is difficult to identify on the ground, but survives as a circular ditch identified from aerial photographs. This ditch surrounded the mound and was the source from which material was excavated during its construction. The area of the mound has a diameter of c.16m; the surrounding ditch is c.2m wide.

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:

22043

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
NMR 1976/SZ5887-NN-14, 18/AP file,
DJT 1979/SZ5887-NN-5, 12/AP file,

End of official list entry

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