Bowl barrow 850m north west of Lower Pertwood 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.

Despite having been spread by ploughing, the bowl barrow 850m north west of Lower Pertwood Farm, on the southern slope of Pertwood Down survives comparatively well. Although it is marked on an antiquarian's map of 1812, there is no record that the barrow has ever been opened. It will therefore contain archaeological and environmental remains which will provide important evidence relating to the people who built the barrow and the landscape in which they lived.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on the south facing slope of a small chalk coombe to the south of Summerslade Down, a ridge of high chalkland to the south of the Wylye valley. The mound of the barrow is spread by cultivation and is now 20m in diameter and 0.3m high. The spread mound will cover a buried ditch 3m wide from which material was quarried during its construction. The barrow lies immediately to the south of the line of the Roman road from Salisbury to the Mendips, having stood for many centuries before this road was constructed. The barrow is shown on a map of 1812 produced by the antiquarian Sir Richard Colt-Hoare.

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:

34192

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Colt Hoare, R, The Ancient History of Wiltshire: Volume I, (1812), 34

End of official list entry

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