Platform barrow 300m south west of Lane Cottages

Reasons for Designation

Platform barrows, funerary monuments dating to the Bronze Age (2000-700 BC), are the rarest of the recognised types of round barrow, with fewer than 50 examples recorded nationally. They occur widely across southern England with a marked concentration in East and West Sussex and can occur either in barrow cemeteries (closely-spaced groups of barrows) or singly. They were constructed as low, flat-topped mounds of earth surrounded by a shallow ditch, occasionally crossed by an entrance causeway. None of the known examples stands higher than 1m above ground level, and most are considerably lower than this. Due to their comparative visual insignificance when compared to the larger types of round barrow, few were explored by 19th century antiquarians. As a result, few platform barrows are disturbed by excavation and, consequently, they remain a poorly understood class of monument. Their importance lies in their potential for illustrating the diversity of beliefs and burial practices in the Bronze Age and, due to their extreme rarity and considerable fragility, all identified platform barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.

The platform barrow 300m south west of Lane Cottages is a well preserved example of its class. Its buried deposits will include archaeological remains containing information relating to the Bronze Age burial practices, economy and environment.

Details

The monument includes a platform barrow lying on an east facing slope 300m south west of Lane Cottages. The barrow has a central platform, 7.5m in diameter, raised 0.4m above the adjacent ground level, surrounded on its rim by a circular bank c.4m wide, 0.3m high from the inside and a maximum of 0.7m high from the outside. The mound and bank appear to be composed of flint nodules, some of which have been exposed by tree roots. There are slight traces of a quarry ditch surrounding the mound. This has largely become infilled over the years but survives as a slight depression on the south west side of the mound and elsewhere 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:

27446

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

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