Two bowl barrows 440m south east of Duncombe Court, forming part of a round barrow cemetery

Reasons for Designation

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite some damage as a result of cultivation, the two bowl barrows forming part of a round barrow cemetery 440m south east of Duncombe Court survive well. The mounds and their surrounding ditches will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to their construction and use as well as the contemporary landscape.

Details

This monument includes two bowl barrows occupying a hilltop site with wide views to the north, west and south. The barrows form part of a wider round barrow cemetery which contained at least 12 barrows in all. Six of these are no longer considered to be of national importance as they are ploughed flat, while the remaining four barrows to the north and south form the subjects of separate schedulings. The eastern barrow in this monument survives as a large mound 45m in diameter and up to 1m high, with a surrounding quarry ditch 12m wide and 0.2m deep. A smaller barrow to the west measures 25m in diameter and is up to 0.3m high. Its surrounding ditch is 5m wide, but is only visible on the east side, where it is 0.1m deep. On the west it survives as a buried feature.

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:

33779

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
MPP fieldwork by R Waterhouse, Waterhouse, R, (2000)

End of official list entry

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