Bowl barrow 630m north of Hardley Bridge

Overview

Heritage Category: Scheduled Monument

List Entry Number: 1013136

Date first listed: 11-Mar-1964

Date of most recent amendment: 10-Dec-1992

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

National Grid Reference: SU 41978 05433

Reasons for Designation

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite evidence for partial excavation and disturbance as a result of road construction, the bowl barrow 630m north of Hardley Bridge survives comparatively well within the New Forest, an area known to have been important in terms of lowland Bronze Age occupation. A considerable amount of archaeological evidence has survived in this area 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 a bowl barrow situated on lowland heathland overlooking Buttsash. The barrow mound measures 29m in diameter and stands up to 2.2m high. The south-western side of the barrow mound has seen limited disturbance as a result of road construction. A slight hollow in the centre of the mound suggests previous robbing or partial excavation. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the barrow. This has become partly infilled over the years but survives as a slight earthwork c.2.5m wide and 0.5m deep on the eastern edge of the mound and as a buried feature elsewhere.

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: 20267

Legacy System: RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, , Vol. 14, (1938), 360

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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.