Bowl barrow 270m SSW of Woolbury hillfort: one of a dispersed group of barrows on Stockbridge Down

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.

Stockbridge Down is one of few surviving areas of undisturbed chalk downland in Wessex and contains a range of generally well preserved archaeological features. A survey of the area has confirmed the survival of prehistoric round barrows, linear earthworks and field systems all to the south of the Iron Age hillfort of Woolbury. The bowl barrow on Stockbridge Down, despite the erosion which has levelled the mound, will still contain archaeological remains providing information about Bronze Age burial practices, economy and environment.

Details

The monument includes the levelled remains of a Bronze Age ditched bowl barrow, part of a dispersed group of barrows situated to the south of Woolbury hillfort on the southern slopes of Stockbridge Down. The monument lies on gently sloping ground approximately 270m SSW of the hillfort. The barrow mound was recorded in 1989 as being approximately 19m in diameter, and is now visible largely in the form of a scatter of flints which represents the spread of more durable mound material. Surrounding this, and surviving as a buried feature approximately 3m wide, is the barrow ditch from which material to construct the mound was quarried.

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:

26732

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Papworth, M, Archaeological Survey, Stockbridge Down and Marsh, Hampshire, (1992), 25
Eagles, B N, British Archaeological Reports: British Series in Woolbury Fields, Stockbridge Down, Hampshire, Vol. 209, (1989)
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club in Hampshire Barrows, Vol. Vol 14, (1938), 353

End of official list entry

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