Bowl barrow on Streat Hill 430m NNW of Streathill Farm, forming part of Western Brow round barrow cemetery

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1014641
Date first listed:: 10-Jul-1996

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1014641
Date first listed:: 10-Jul-1996

Location

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

County:: East Sussex
District:: Lewes (District Authority)
Parish:: Streat
National Park:: SOUTH DOWNS
National Grid Reference:: TQ 34862 12840

Reasons for Designation

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Bowl barrows are the most numerous form of round barrow and date from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age. Most examples were constructed in the period 2400-1500 BC. They occur across most of lowland Britain and, although superficially similar in appearance, exhibit regional variations of form and a diversity of burial practices. The bowl barrow on Streat Hill 430m NNW of Streathill Farm survives comparatively well, and despite some disturbance by part excavation, will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the period in which it was constructed and used.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated towards the eastern end of a prehistoric linear round barrow cemetery which runs from west to east along a ridge of the Sussex Downs. The barrow has a mound c.17m in diameter, surviving to a height of up to c.0.4m. This has a large central hollow, indicating that it has been partly excavated at some point in the past, and its northern side has been disturbed by footpath erosion. The mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material used to construct the barrow was excavated. This has become infilled over the years but will survive as a buried feature c.2m wide.

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:: 27059
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
source 2, RCHME, TQ 31 SW 25, (1934)

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.