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Bowl barrow 350m south of Woolbury hillfort: one of a dispersed group of barrows on Stockbridge Down

A Scheduled Monument in Little Somborne, Hampshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.1114 / 51°6'40"N

Longitude: -1.4566 / 1°27'23"W

OS Eastings: 438135.607797

OS Northings: 134813.65448

OS Grid: SU381348

Mapcode National: GBR 73Y.BJS

Mapcode Global: VHC3C.PBTC

Entry Name: Bowl barrow 350m south of Woolbury hillfort: one of a dispersed group of barrows on Stockbridge Down

Scheduled Date: 14 February 1996

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1013640

English Heritage Legacy ID: 26733

County: Hampshire

Civil Parish: Little Somborne

Traditional County: Hampshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Hampshire

Church of England Parish: Stockbridge St Peter

Church of England Diocese: Winchester

Details

The monument includes a ditched bowl barrow, one of a dispersed group of round
barrows situated to the south of Woolbury hillfort on the southern slopes of
Stockbridge Down. The monument lies approximately 350m south of Woolbury and
100m south west of a major linear ditch which marks the southern boundary of a
field system associated with the hillfort.
The barrow has a circular mound 10m in diameter and 0.4m high. The structure
of the mound includes large quantities of flint nodules. Surrounding this and
surviving as a buried feature approximately 2m wide is a ditch from which
material to construct the mound was quarried.

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.

Stockbridge Down is one of few surviving areas of undisturbed chalk downland
in Wessex and contains a range of generally well preserved archaeological
features. A recent survey of the area has confirmed the survival of
prehistoric round barrows, linear earthworks and field systems, all to the
south of the Iron Age hillfort of Woolbury.
The bowl barrow 350m south of Woolbury is a comparatively well preserved
example of its class. Despite some erosion of the western margins of the
mound, the barrow exhibits a largely original profile and will contain
archaeological remains providing information about Bronze Age burial
practices, economy and environment.
The monument is situated within an area of unrestricted public access.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Papworth, M, Archaeological Survey, Stockbridge Down and Marsh, Hampshire, (1992), 25-26
Eagles, B N, 'British Archaeological Reports: British Series' in Woolbury Fields, Stockbridge Down, Hampshire, , Vol. 209, (1989)
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, , Vol. Vol 14, (1938), 353

Source: Historic England

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