Money Burgh, oval barrow 200m west of Deans Farm

Reasons for Designation

Oval barrows are funerary and ceremonial monuments of the Early to Middle Neolithic periods, with the majority of dated monuments belonging to the later part of the range. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds of roughly elliptical plan, usually delimited by quarry ditches. These ditches can vary from paired "banana-shaped" ditches flanking the mound to "U-shaped" or unbroken oval ditches nearly or wholly encircling it. Along with the long barrows, oval barrows represent the burial places of Britain's early farming communities and, as such, are amongst the oldest field monuments surviving visibly in the present landscape. Where investigated, oval barrows have produced two distinct types of burial rite: communal burials of groups of individuals, including adults and children, laid directly on the ground surface before the barrow was built; and burials of one or two adults interred in a grave pit centrally placed beneath the barrow mound. Certain sites provide evidence for several phases of funerary monument preceding the barrow and, consequently, it is probable that they may have acted as important ritual sites for local communities over a considerable period of time. Similarly, as the filling of the ditches around oval barrows often contains deliberately placed deposits of pottery, flintwork and bone, periodic ceremonial activity may have taken place at the barrow subsequent to its construction. Oval barrows are very rare nationally, with less than 50 recorded examples in England. As one of the few types of Neolithic structure to survive as earthworks, and due to their rarity, their considerable age and their longevity as a monument type, all oval barrows are considered to be nationally important.

In spite of limited damage done to the barrow by antiquarian excavators, it retains considerable archaeological potential since the primary burial is thought not to have been disturbed. Evidence will also survive in the infilled ditches and on the former land surface buried by the mound.

Details

The monument known as the Money Burgh is an oval barrow or burial mound which dates from the Neolithic period. It includes not only the highly visible earthen mound but also the now completely-infilled ditches which flank the mound. The barrow is situated on the crest of a chalk spur overlooking the floodplain of the River Ouse, and is oriented NE-SW. The mound measures 32m by 10m (12m at the eastern end). A large and irregular old spoil heap has complicated the form of the mound on the northern side making measurement difficult. At its highest, towards the NE end, the mound stands over 2m above the surrounding ground level. The height diminishes slightly to 1.7m at the SW end. Along the crest of the mound are the remains of a long excavation trench which was opened by Mr Joseph Thompson of Deans, the neighbouring house, in the 19th century. The excavation recovered a number of artefacts and a skeleton, which were reportedly sent to Lewes Museum, but it is believed that the primary interment was not disturbed. The now infilled crescent-shaped ditches which flank the mound provided the earth and chalk for its construction. On such monuments they measure typically 5-7m across at the top, narrowing slightly with increasing depth. They appear not to have been joined around the ends of the mound; instead causeways some 8m wide separated the terminals. The post-and-wire fencing fringing the SW end of the mound is excluded from the scheduling.

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:

12793

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Toms, H S, Sussex Archaeological Collections in The Long Barrows of Sussex, Vol. 63, (1922)

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey 1:2500, as revised 1972 Source Date: 1972 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
TQ 40 SW 5,

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