Details

This monument includes two bowl barrows and a short length of field boundary
situated on a ridge of high ground within the Bishop of Winchester's Purlieu.
The northern barrow mound measures 10m in diameter and stands up to 0.65m
high. A shallow hollow in the mound centre suggests previous robbing or
partial early excavation. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which
material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This has
become infilled over the years but survives as a ring of enhanced heather
growth 3m wide. The second mound is situated 12m to the south-east and
measures 14m in diameter and stands up to 0.9m high. The ditch survives as a
1.7m wide and 0.4m deep earthwork on all sides except to the south where it is
obscured by a later field boundary which abuts the mound. The overall
diameter of the northern barrow is 16m. The overall diameter of the southern
barrow is 17.4m.
This monument lies within a relict field system. It consists of one area
containing the two barrows.

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.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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 evidence for partial excavation, the two bowl barrows in the Bishop of
Winchester's Purlieu survive well. They lie adjacent to a heavily waterlogged
area which makes it likely that environmental evidence may survive relating
both to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.
Furthermore, the monument survives within the New Forest, an area known to
have been important in terms of lowland Bronze Age occupation. A considerable
amount of archaeological evidence has survived in this area because of a lack
of agricultural activity, the result of later climatic deterioration,
development of heath and the establishment of a Royal Forest.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Darvill, T C, Monument Class Descriptions - Bowl Barrows (1988), 1988,
Hampshire County Planning Department, SU30SE5A,
Hampshire County Planning Department, SU30SE5B,

Source: Historic England