Four bowl barrows on Weavers Down, 650m north west of The Sanctuary

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 four bowl barrows on Weavers Down situated 650m north west of The Sanctuary survive well despite some later disturbance and have been demonstrated by partial excavation to retain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to each barrow and the environment in which it was constructed. The monument is closely assoicated with a number of other round barrow cemeteries and barrow groups within the area of Woolmer Forest which together constitute as a particularly well-preserved ritual landscape of the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. All walls are excluded from the scheduling, but the ground beneath them is included.

Details

The monument, which falls within four separate areas of protection, includes four bowl barrows of Late Neolithic or Bronze Age date, prominently situated within Woolmer Forest on a high sandy ridge on Weavers Down. The barrows are widely spaced, aligned north east-south west along the southern brow of the ridge over a distance of approximately 570m. They form one of a large number of similar barrow groups, isolated barrows and larger round barrow cemeteries located in and around Woolmer Forest, some of which are the subject of separate schedulings. All four barrows are surrounded by later tree rings of drystone walling, ranging from 15m to 22m in diameter and from 0.6m to 1.4m in height, within which they survive as circular, flat-topped mounds ranging in height from 0.75m to 1.5m above the surrounding ground surface. The outer flanks of all of the barrows have been buried beneath the fill of the later tree rings and three of the four have been clipped around the edges by later tracks associated with the modern use of the area as a military training ground. The fourth barrow and tree ring is surrounded by traces of a partly infilled ditch, 1.5m wide, from which material would have been obtained for the barrow mound's construction. Similar ditches, now infilled by the later use of the area, may surround the other barrows. Partial excavation of three of the mounds by Reverend Cardew in 1883, recovered evidence in one of a large stone-lined cist containing signs of a human cremation burial. Further buried remains associated with the original construction and use of the monument, including burials, grave pits, burial goods, and the original ground surface, can be expected to survive beneath each mound.

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:

34152

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club in Hampshire Barrows, Vol. 14, (1940), 354

End of official list entry