Two round barrows on Crawley Down, 830m NNE of Warren House

Reasons for Designation

Saucer barrows are funerary monuments of the Early Bronze Age, most examples dating to between 1800 and l200 BC. They occur either in isolation or in barrow cemeteries (closely-spaced groups of round barrows). They were constructed as a circular area of level ground defined by a bank and internal ditch and largely occupied by a single low, squat mound covering one or more burials, usually in a pit. The burials, either inhumations or cremations, are sometimes accompanied by pottery vessels, tools and personal ornaments. Saucer barrows are one of the rarest recognised forms of round barrow, with about 60 known examples nationally, most of which are in Wessex. The presence of grave goods within the barrows provides important evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst prehistoric communities over a wide area of southern England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a rare and fragile form of round barrow, all identified saucer barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.

Bowl barrows are a similar, but much more numerous, form of funerary monument 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. Like saucer barrows, they occur either in isolation or, as in this case, grouped with one or more other barrows. Unlike saucer barrows, they tend not to contain grave goods, but often occupy prominent locations and are a more conspicuous element in the modern landscape. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows nationally, occurring across most of lowland Britain and exhibiting regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. They are particularly representative of their period, providing important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities, and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are therefore considered worthy of protection. The two round barrows on Crawley Down, 830m NNE of Warren House survive well and can be expected to retain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the environment in which it was constructed. The monument is closely associated with a group of three additional round barrows, including a disc barrow and a saucer barrow, 340m to the east. This unusual concentration of the rarer types of barrow establishes Crawley Down as a significant ritual landscape.

Details

The monument includes a saucer barrow and a bowl barrow, of Late Neolithic to Bronze Age date, situated on the northern slope of a slight, east-west oriented ridge, crossing Crawley Down. The two barrows are confluent, aligned along the slope, with the saucer barrow to the east and the bowl barrow overlying it slightly to the west. Both have been lowered as a result of modern ploughing. The saucer barrow now survives as a low and indistinct circular mound, approximately 15m in diameter and raised up to 1m on the downslope northern side. It was formerly recorded in 1938 as being enclosed by a wide ditch, 7m wide and 0.3m deep, and a low outer bank of the same width. Both the ditch and bank, however, have now been almost completely obscured as surface features, although the ditch survives as a slight depression to the south east and both remain visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. The bowl barrow survives comparatively well as a slightly oval shaped mound oriented north-south down the slope, reaching a maximum diameter of 30m and standing up to 1.8m high on the downslope side. There is now no trace of a surrounding ditch although this was formerly visible as a band of darkened loam surrounding the mound when inspected by the Ordnance Survey in 1956 and will survive as a buried feature, infilled by the later ploughing. Further archaeological remains associated with the original construction and use of the monument, including burials, grave pits, burial goods and the original ground surface can also be expected to survive as buried features beneath 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:

34157

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club in Hampshire Barrows, Vol. 14, (1938), 226,351

End of official list entry

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