Bowl barrow on Ibsley Common, 670m east of Gorley Vale Farm

Reasons for Designation

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The round barrow on Ibsley Common, 670m east of Gorley Vale Farm, survives comparatively well despite some later disturbance caused by a modern bridleway and footpath. It forms part of a widely spaced group of at least 15 round barrows situated on Ibsley Common. Part excavation of six of these barrows has demonstrated that they retain important archaeological remains and retain environmental evidence relating to each barrow and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow of Late Neolithic or Bronze Age date, prominently situated at the heel of a high, south east facing spur at the northern end of Ibsley Common. At least 15 further round barrows are widely spaced across the common, a high gravel plateau covering an area of approximately 240ha. All are situated near the sharp upper edges of the plateau or on subsidiary spurs, and are the subject of separate schedulings. The monument includes a low, flat topped, circular mound, 12m in diameter and approximately 0.75m high. Rabbit scrapes on the top of the mound indicate that it was constructed of compacted gravel. There is no visible trace of a surrounding ditch although a shallow quarry ditch can be expected to survive as a buried feature from which material was obtained for the construction of the mound. Excavations of six other barrows on Ibsley Common in 1917 and 1921 revealed such ditches encircling mounds constructed of layers of compacted clay, sand and gravel flints. The excavations indicated oval or rectangular voids for inhumation burials at the centres of two of the mounds and Bronze Age funerary urns filled with burnt human bone and other material at the centres of three others. The urns and other materials recovered from these excavations are now held at the Salisbury Museum.

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:

31174

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club in Hampshire Barrows, Vol. 14, (1938), 359

End of official list entry

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