Two saucer barrows and a pair of bowl barrows 750m SSW of Beckhampton Plantation, forming part of a round barrow cemetery on Horton Down

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 Early Bronze Age periods. Two of the best known and earliest recognised, with references in the 17th century, are around Avebury and Stonehenge, now jointly designated as a World Heritage Site. In the Avebury area, the henge monument itself, the West Kennet Avenue, the Sanctuary, West Kennet long barrow, Windmill Hill causewayed enclosure and the enigmatic Silbury Hill are well-known. Whilst the other Neolithic long barrows, the many Bronze Age round barrows and other associated sites are less well-known, together they define one of the richest and most varied areas of Neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial and ritual monuments in the country. Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (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 and occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where investigation beyond the round barrows has occurred, contemporary or later `flat' burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland England with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments, as is the case both here and at Stonehenge. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, while their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. All examples are considered worthy of protection.

The round barrow cemetery SSW of Beckhampton Plantation on Horton Down includes both bowl and saucer barrows dating from the Bronze Age. It is situated in an area of important funerary activity relating to the ritual complex centred on Avebury. Despite three of the four barrows within this monument having been reduced by cultivation, they have not been excavated and will contain archaeological remains relating to their construction and the landscape in which they were built.

Details

The monument includes two saucer barrows and a pair of bowl barrows, situated 750m SSW of Beckhampton Plantation. The group forms part of a Bronze Age round barrow cemetery running along the contour of the north facing slope of Horton Down. The remaining barrow in the cemetery is an outlier c.200m to the south west. From east to west the individual barrows within this monument can be described as follows: A bowl barrow, the mound of which measures 18m across and stands up to 1m high. A saucer barrow which has been reduced by cultivation but which includes a low mound 8m across standing up to 0.2m high. A saucer barrow which includes a low mound c.8m across and standing up to 0.2m high. A bowl barrow, the mound of which has been spread almost flat across its base and the surrounding quarry ditch so that it is no longer visible at ground level. When previously recorded, the mound measured c.18m across and would have stood between 1m and 2m high. The barrow mounds have been reduced by cultivation and the ditches, c.2.5m- 3.5m, which surround the mounds, from which material would have been quarried during their construction, have been infilled but survive below modern ploughsoil. The two saucer barrows were further surrounded by low banks c.3.5m wide and previously recorded as surviving to a height of at least 0.3m.

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:

21872

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, A History Of The Counties Of England in Gazeteer, Vol. 1,1, (1957), 223
Grinsell, L V, A History Of The Counties Of WIltshire in Gazeteer, Vol. 1,1, (1957), 158
Grinsell, L V, A History Of WIltshire in Gazeteer, Vol. 1,1, (1957), 223
Grinsell, L V, A History Of WIltshire in Gazeteer, Vol. 1,1, (1957), 159

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 6" Source Date: 1926 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 6" series
Title: Ordnance Survey 1st Edition Source Date: 1880 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 6" Series
Title: Ordnance Survey 1st Edition Source Date: 1880 Author: Publisher: Surveyor: 1st Edition 6" Series
SU06NE710, C.A.O., BOWL BARROW, (1979)
SU 06 NE 719, CAO, Possible Round Barrow, (1979)
FMW report AM 107, Williams, S., Group of four round barrows on Horton Down, (1986)
FMW report AM 107, Williams, S., Group of four round barrows on Horton Down, (1986)

End of official list entry

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