Bell barrow and two bowl barrows 180m south west of Stagbury Hill, Furzley Common

Reasons for Designation

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 and eastern 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.

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, date from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. Over 10 000 examples survive naturally occurring across most of lowland Britain. The bell barrow and two bowl barrows south west of Stagbury Hill, Furzley Common, survive comparatively well despite some later disturbance and can be expected to retain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the barrows and the landscape in which they were constructed. Their close association with additional round barrows on Furzley Common demonstrates the importance of the area as a site of Late Neolithic or Bronze Age ritual activity and their spatial association with a series of hollow ways demonstrates the later use of the area during the medieval and post-medieval periods.

Details

The monument includes a bell barrow and two bowl barrows of Late Neolithic or Bronze Age date, situated on a broad sandy ridge on Furzley Common, 180m south west of Stagbury Hill. The bell barrow measures 24m in diameter and stands 1.6m high. It includes a circular mound which is flanked to the south and west by a flat berm, up to 3m wide, and enclosed by an outer ditch, 4m wide and 0.45m deep. The two bowl barrows, situated 30m and 75m to the south, are both low and indistinct. They include circular mounds that measure 20m and 17m in diameter and stand 0.4 and 0.5m high respectively. The larger bowl barrow includes traces of a partly infilled quarry ditch, approximately 2m wide, which would formerly have surrounded the mound. Although no longer visible, a similar ditch, now infilled by the later use of the area, will survive as a buried feature around the smaller bowl barrow located to the south. The bell barrow has been partly disturbed on the south east side by a pit or trench indicative of later excavation, and all three barrows have been disturbed by modern footpaths and stock tracks. The two bowl barrows have also been partly disturbed by later hollow ways. These hollow ways form part of a medieval or post-medieval route across Furzley Common, recorded in depositions dating to 1620, and may also form part of an earlier Saxon migration route between the Hampshire coast and Wessex known as the Cloven Way.

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:

31172

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Crawford, O G S, Antiquity in Cerdic and the Cloven Way, Vol. 5, (1931), 441-58

Other
Crosby, A D, (1998)

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