Two bowl barrows and a saucer barrow on Picquet Hill

Overview

Location

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.

Saucer barrows are funerary monuments of the Early Bronze Age, most examples dating to between 1800 and 1200 BC. They were constructed as a circular area of level ground defined by a bank and internal ditch and largely occupied by a single low, squat mound covering one or more burials, usually in a pit. Saucer barrows are one of the rarest recognised forms of round barrow, with about 60 known examples nationally, most of which are in Wessex. The three barrows on Picquet Hill survive well and are situated at a prominent location. Although there is some damage to the saucer barrow from chalk digging, all three of the barrows are comparatively well preserved and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to landscape and burial practices in the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.

Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows and a saucer barrow on the summit of Picquet Hill, an Upper Chalk promontory of Salisbury Plain with extensive views northwards over the village of Edington and the low lying vale beyond. The three barrows are aligned south west to north east. The saucer barrow lies to the south west, partially overlying the central bowl barrow, while the barrow to the north east stands slightly apart. The mound of the north eastern bowl barrow is 0.7m high and has a diameter of 11m. It is surrounded by a ditch up to 0.2m deep and 3.7m wide, from which material was quarried during its construction. The mound of the central barrow is 0.7m high and 9.3m wide and is surrounded by a quarry ditch 1.5m wide and 0.1m deep. The south western side of the mound and ditch are overlain by the external bank and ditch of the saucer barrow to the south west. This barrow has been disturbed by chalk digging. The area enclosed by the ditch, which originally comprised a low mound and berm, is now uneven and consists of hollows and small mounds interpreted as holes dug for chalk and their associated spoil heaps. The saucer barrow is 18.4m in diameter and up to 0.8m high, although this may represent the height of the spoil heaps rather than the original height of the mound. The surrounding quarry ditch is 4m wide and up to 0.3m deep. This has been infilled to the south by chalk diggers but will survive as a buried feature. A bank which lies outside the ditch survives to the south and west measuring 4m wide and up to 0.4m high.

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:

31699

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire, (1957), 174
Grinsell, L V, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire, (1957), 174

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.