Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, part of linear group containing at least
five round barrows which lie on undulating ground to the south of Waters Down
Farm.
The barrow, which lies on a gentle north west facing slope not far above the
bottom of a dry valley, has a slightly elongated mound 23m (east-west) by 22m,
orientated ENE-WSW and truncated at its western end by a road. The mound is
1.2m high and the exposed section on the roadside shows it to be constructed
of chalk rubble overlying a turf core. The ditch, from which material to
construct the mound was quarried, is visible only within the south east corner
of the fenced area around the barrow. Here it is 3m wide and has been traced
by geophysical survey and probing as a continuous feature in the surrounding
field.
Although formerly classified by the Ordnance Survey as a `short' long barrow,
more recent investigation has shown this example can best be interpreted as a
bowl barrow.
Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts and the metalled surface of
the road, although the ground beneath them is included.

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.

The bowl barrow 400m south of Waters Down Farm is, despite the truncation of
the western end of the mound and some disturbance by burrowing animals, a well
preserved example of its class which exhibits an unusual elongated mound. The
barrow will contain archaeological remains providing information about Bronze
Age burial practices, economy and environment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments of England, , Long Barrows in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, (1976), xxx

Source: Historic England