Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow set at the foot of a steep west-facing
escarpment in an area of undulating chalk downland known as Berwick Bassett
Down. The barrow mound is 20m in diameter and stands to a height of 0.7m.
Surrounding the barrow mound is a ditch from which material was quarried
during construction of the monument. This is no longer visible at ground
level but survives as a buried feature c.3m wide.

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.

There is no evidence for formal excavation of the Berwick Bassett Clump
barrow mound and much of the monument remains intact and survives
comparatively well. It therefore has significant potential for the recovery
of archaeological remains. The importance of the site is enhanced by its
location within an area rich in archaeological remains dating both to the
preceding Neolithic period and the Bronze Age itself. The area was obviously
important for settlement and religious purposes, the burial monuments giving
an indication of the form and intensity with which the area was occupied
during that period.

Source: Historic England