Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, one of a group of 15 round barrows
forming a linear round barrow cemetery running from west to east along a ridge
of the Sussex Downs. The barrow has a circular mound 8.5m in diameter and 0.3m
high. A hollow in the centre of the mound suggests that the barrow has been
partially excavated. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material used
to construct the barrow was excavated. The ditch has become infilled over the
years but survives as a slight depression c.2m 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

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

Bowl barrows are the most numerous form of round barrow and date from the Late
Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age. Most examples were constructed in the
period 2400-1500 BC. They occur across most of lowland Britain and, although
superficially similar in appearance, exhibit regional variations of form and a
diversity of burial practices.
Despite evidence of partial disturbance, the bowl barrow 700m south east of
Ditchling Cross survives comparatively well and will contain archaeological
remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape
in which it was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in Sussex Barrows, , Vol. 75, (1934), 258

Source: Historic England