East Hendred Down barrow

Summary

The earthwork and buried features of a large barrow, probably of the Iron Age or Romano-British period, possibly with Bronze Age origins.

Reasons for Designation

The East Hendred Down barrow is scheduled for the following principal reasons:

* Documentation: the excavation of the earthworks in 1934 provides greater understanding of the monument’s construction, use and date, supplemented by survey and LiDAR records;

* Potential: for further buried deposits to retain considerable evidence and artefacts relating to the construction of the barrow and funerary practices, including environmental evidence;

* Group value: for its close proximity to other scheduled monuments such as Scutchamer Knob (National Heritage List for England entry 1006312) and sections of Grim’s Ditch (NHLE entries 1006307, 1006980, 1003765, 1006985 and 1004825) located across the Ridgeway’s significant prehistoric and historic landscape.

History

Barrows are characteristic earthwork funerary monuments mostly of the prehistoric period. Round barrows have origins dating to before 5,000 years ago (3000 BC). As our Introduction to Heritage Assets on Prehistoric Barrows and Burial Grounds (October 2018) explains, the main period of round barrow construction occurred between about 4,000 and 3,500 years ago (2000-1500 BC). Less intensive and intermittent construction and use of barrow mounds also occurred in later times up until about 1,200 years ago (AD 800). They occur either in isolation or groups and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Subtleties on the surface only rarely allow different forms to be distinguished and most occur as simple amorphous earthworks. As most barrow mounds have been damaged and large numbers have been partly or completely levelled by agriculture, those that survive as earthworks are even more important. Barrows dating to the Iron Age or Romano-British period are rare in Oxfordshire.

Barrows remain one of the main sources of information about life and death in the prehistoric periods seen, for example, in the variety of artefactual and environmental evidence which can be found associated with them. In addition to human skeletons, deposits of pottery and stone tools are not unusual, neither are animal bones, for example cattle skulls. Sometimes there might be formal burials, with an entire human skeleton present, either placed in a grave beneath the mound or cut into it or even placed in the ditch.

The barrow on East Hendred Down first appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1877 (1:2500). It is shown on aerial photographs and recent (2024) LiDAR survey data. It is approximately 175m north-east of the Ridgeway, an ancient trackway extending from Wiltshire to Buckinghamshire. The barrow is in close proximity to several scheduled monuments: a round barrow approximately 720m to the west known as Scutchamer Knob (National Heritage List for England entry 1006312); the extensive earthworks of Grim's Ditch approximately 320m to the east (NHLE entries 1006980, 1003765, 1006985 and 1004825) and approximately 850m to the north-west (NHLE 1006307).

In 1934, the Newbury District Field Club carried out a series of excavations along the Berkshire Downs, documented by Mr H J E Peake and others, which included the barrow on East Hendred Down. The barrow was found to be irregular in form and recorded as standing to a height of 1.52m. At the time, it was posited that the mound was created of turves from the surrounding land. However, more recent analysis indicates that it is probable that the mound was constructed of material taken from a quarry ditch surrounding it which has become infilled over the years. When excavated, the mound was found to contain a large number of Romano-British items including pottery, a bronze fibula and tweezers all buried at depths from about 20cm to 110cm. Of note, was a horse burial of unknown date comprising two horse skeletons located close to the original surface level, possibly arranged in a ceremonial position (Peake, 104). Two fragments of pottery resembling Early Iron Age wares were found. The finds from the excavation are held at West Berkshire Museum (NEYBYM: T1184). Although partly levelled by cultivation, the barrow survives and stands to a height of about 0.3m (2025).

Details

PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS
The earthwork and buried features of a large barrow, probably of the Iron Age or Romano-British period, possibly with Bronze Age origins, situated on East Hendred Down about 175m north-east of the Ridgeway, Oxfordshire.

DESCRIPTION
The barrow survives as a roughly circular mound and is approximately 30m in diameter and now (2025) stands about 0.3m high.

The mound is probably surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This has become infilled over the years and now lies beneath the edge of the spread mound, but may survive as a buried feature to its original width of 3m.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING
The scheduled area includes a 2m margin around the barrow for its support and protection.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

28193

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Websites
Historic England Research Record: East Hendred Down Bowl Barrow (ref 233611), accessed 26 January 2026 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=e7ec5c3f-fe20-482d-8d1b-669e457bfd47&resourceID=19191
Oxfordshire Historic Environment Record (ref 7452), accessed 26 January 2026 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MOX151&resourceID=1033

Other
1877 Ordnance Survey map of Berkshire (1:2500)
Relics of the Iron Age, Central Somerset Gazette (17 August 1934), 6
Finds in Tumulus on Berkshire Downs, The Sunderland Echo and Shipping Gazette (14 August 1934), 6
Peake, H J E, Coghlan, H H, Marshall, C and Birkbeck, J, Excavations on the Berkshire Downs, Transactions of the Newbury District Field Club, volume 7 (1934), 90-106

End of official list entry

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