Round barrow cemetery 780m south west of Amherst House, Bordon Camp

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.

The round barrow cemetery 780m south west of Amherst House, Bordon Camp survives comparatively well despite some subsequent disturbance. It can be expected to retain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. The bell barrow is a rare survival nationally, with less than 250 known examples.

Details

The monument includes a round barrow cemetery of Late Neolithic to Bronze Age date (2000-700 BC), inconspicuously situated on a low gravel spur 600m west of Bordon Camp. It includes a group of four bowl barrows and a bell barrow aligned north east-south west along the spur. The monument lies in four areas of protection. Two other barrows formerly visible within the cemetery have subsequently been overlain by a modern housing development and are not included in the scheduling. The four bowl barrows all comprise low earthen mounds, ranging from 0.4m to 1.4m in height and from 11m to 26m in diameter. The bell barrow is slightly larger, standing 25m in diameter and up to 1.7m high, and includes a narrow berm around the northern and eastern flanks of the mound. All five barrows have been disturbed by development, partial excavation, or both. They are irregularly circular or oval in shape except the south western barrow, which has been partly levelled to form a footpath and modern garden, and the central barrow, which has been excavated on the western side and is now crescentic in shape. There is no visible trace of a quarry ditch surrounding any of the barrows, although such ditches, from which spoil would have been obtained for the mound's construction, are common and will survive as buried features up to 2m wide. Further buried remains associated with the original construction and use of all components of the monument, including the original ground surface, burials, grave pits and grave goods can also be expected to survive. All fence posts, MOD stars and a small area of asphalt covering part of the monument are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

34138

Legacy System:

RSM

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.