Three bowl barrows, 980m east of Woolmer Pond Cottage

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.

The three bowl barrows situated 980m east of Woolmer Pond Cottage survive well despite some later disturbance and can be expected to retain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the barrows and the environment in which they were constructed. The monument is closely associated with a number of other round barrow cemeteries and barrow groups within the area of Woolmer Forest which together constitute a particularly well-preserved ritual landscape of the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.

Details

The monument includes a group of three bowl barrows of Late Neolithic or Bronze Age date prominently situated at the eastern end of a flat-topped, sandy ridge in Woolmer Forest, overlooking Brimstone Inclosure and Queen's Bank to the north east. The three barrows are aligned over a distance of approximately 110m, oriented roughly north east-south west. They are one of a number of similar barrow groups, barrow cemeteries and isolated barrows located in and around Woolmer Forest, some of which are the subject of separate schedulings. The barrows survive in reasonably good condition although all three have been damaged by the later excavation of slit trenches across them or by heavy vehicle tracks and drains associated with the modern use of the area as a military training ground. They survive as roughly circular, steep-sided and flat-topped mounds, ranging from 17m to 20m in diameter and from 1.5m to 2.5m in height. All three barrows have slight traces of surrounding ditches around them, up to 3m wide and 0.5m deep, from which material would have been obtained for the mounds' construction. These ditches have now been partly infilled by the later use of the site. Further archaeological remains associated with the original construction and use of the barrows, including burials, grave pits, burial goods, and the original ground surface, can be expected to survive as buried features beneath and between the mounds.

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:

34147

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
White, G, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, (1875), 462
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club in Hampshire Barrows, Vol. 14, (1938), 354

End of official list entry

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