Oval barrow 700m SSE of Locksash Farm

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.

The oval barrow 700m SSE of Locksash Farm survives well, despite some disturbance by tree roots and soil dumping, and will contain important archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the construction of the monument and the nature of the landscape which formed its original setting.

Details

The monument includes an oval barrow situated on a chalk and clay-with-flints hill which forms part of the Sussex Downs. The barrow has a east-west aligned, oval mound measuring 23m by 16m, which survives to a height of up to 2m. The mound has been partly disturbed by tree roots, and its eastern end shows signs of subsequent heightening by soil dumping. The mound is surrounded by a c.2m wide level berm, flanked by curving ditches from which material used to construct the barrow was excavated. The ditches have become infilled over the years, but will survive as buried features 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:

29237

Legacy System:

RSM

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