Bell barrow, bowl barrow and section of hollow way 600m NNW of Long Orchard

Reasons for Designation

Since 1916 the Porton Down Range has been used for military purposes. As on the Salisbury Plain Training Area, this has meant that it has not been subject to the intensive arable farming seen elsewhere on the Wessex chalk. Porton, as a result, is one of very few surviving areas of uncultivated chalk downland in England and contains a range of well-preserved archaeological sites, many of Neolithic or Bronze Age date. These include long barrows and round barrows, flint mines, and evidence for settlement, land division and agriculture. Bell barrows, the most visually impressive form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 1500-1100 BC. They occur either in isolation or in round barrow cemeteries and were constructed as single or multiple mounds covering burials, often in pits, and surrounded by an enclosure ditch. The burials are frequently accompanied by weapons, personal ornaments and pottery and appear to be those of aristocratic individuals, usually men. Bell barrows (particularly multiple barrows) are rare nationally, with less than 250 known examples, most of which are in Wessex. Their richness in terms of grave goods provides evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst early prehistoric communities over most of southern England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a particularly rare form of round barrow, all identified bell barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.

The bell barrow 600m NNW of Long Orchard is an exceptionally large and well preserved example of its class. As a visually impressive barrow it formed the focus for the layout of later boundary earthworks and also, as demonstrated by part excavation, for richly furnished Saxon burial. As excavation has shown, the barrow contains archaeological remains providing evidence for Bronze Age and Saxon burial practices, economy and environment. The bowl barrow, although of a more common class of Bronze Age funerary monument than the bell barrow, is an unusually small and well preserved example which will also contain significant archaeological remains. The hollow way which runs between the two barrows is not itself considered to be of national importance. However, the section which lies between the barrows and within the area of the monument provides a sample of a wider communication network which may have utilised large prehistoric monuments as siting points.

Details

The monument includes a bell barrow and a bowl barrow, part of the extensive Winterslow Hut group of round barrows which lie between Porton Down and Easton Down. Also included is a section 38m long of a hollow trackway. The barrows, the line of which is orientated approximately north east-south west, lie on a gentle south west facing slope close to the edge of a shallow dry valley. The bell barrow has a mound 30m in diameter and c.3.5m high, in the centre of which are traces of disturbance, most probably resulting from the excavation carried out by the Rev A B Hutchins in 1814. The mound is not placed centrally within the ditched area as the width of the berm, which slopes gently in places, varies from 9m to 12m. Surrounding the mound and berm and visible both as an earthwork and, in places, as a vegetation mark, is a ditch 4m wide and a maximum of 0.2m deep. Hutchin's excavations revealed an intrusive pagan Saxon skeleton 2ft(0.6m) below the top of the barrow. Buried with the skeleton were the iron boss and handgrip of a shield, a spearhead, buckle and a bronze bound wooden bucket which serve to date the burial to the 5th or 6th century AD. The excavation was not carried on below 8ft(2.4m) from the top of the barrow and the primary burial was consequently not reached. The bowl barrow, an unusually small example which lies c.55m north east of the centre of the bell barrow, has a mound 6.5m in diameter and 0.6m high. The hollow way is the Old Idmiston Road which formerly led into the Salisbury turnpike close to the Winterslow Hut Inn (now the Pheasant). At the point at which it runs between the two barrows it is 6.5m wide with a flat base 2m wide, and 1.2m deep. Excluded from the scheduling are all archaeological site markers, although the ground beneath them is included.

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:

26759

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Cunnington, M E, Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine in Wiltshire In Pagan Saxon Times, Vol. Vol 46, (1932), 166
Stevens, F, Stone, J F S, Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine in The Barrows of Winterslow, Vol. Vol 48, (1937), 174 -82
Stevens, F, Stone, J F S, Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine in The Barrows of Winterslow, Vol. Vol 48, (1978), 174-82

End of official list entry

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