Ancient Monuments

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Saucer barrow 170m south west of Ditchling Cross, Plumpton Plain

A Scheduled Monument in Plumpton, East Sussex

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.8976 / 50°53'51"N

Longitude: -0.0688 / 0°4'7"W

OS Eastings: 535901.193719

OS Northings: 112680.864942

OS Grid: TQ359126

Mapcode National: GBR KPL.MFJ

Mapcode Global: FRA B6RQ.M0W

Entry Name: Saucer barrow 170m SW of Ditchling Cross, Plumpton Plain

Scheduled Date: 29 April 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1013367

English Heritage Legacy ID: 12801

County: East Sussex

Civil Parish: Plumpton

Built-Up Area: Plumpton

Traditional County: Sussex

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): East Sussex

Church of England Parish: Plumpton with East Chiltington-cum-Novington

Church of England Diocese: Chichester

Details

The monument includes a saucer barrow of Bronze Age date, comprising
not only the shallow circular ditch and the low dome-shaped mound
within it, but also an area around the ditch in which slight traces of
an encircling bank can be seen in favourable lighting conditions.
The whole barrow measures 11m in diameter, this being made up of an
encircling bank of 1m width and a ditch 0.25-0.30m deep leading into
the low dome 8m across which rises barely 0.10m above the level of the
surrounding land. The slight dimple in the top of the dome suggests
that antiquarian excavators have investigated the monument.
The monument lies close to an earlier oval barrow and a broadly
contemporary bowl barrow.

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

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.

Despite the localised damage to the barrow caused by the unrecorded
previous excavation, most of the monument survives intact. Large areas
therefore retain their archaeological potential for the recovery of
evidence of the function and duration of the use of the monument and
of the environment in which it was created.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
TQ31 SE13 B,

Source: Historic England

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