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.
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.
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 Other
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 Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
