Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow located between buildings within Boscombe
Down Airfield. The mound is 16m in diameter, 1.4m high and has a depression 5m
wide and 0.4m deep on its summit. This is probably the result of an unrecorded
antiquarian excavation. The mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material
was quarried during its construction. This has become infilled over the years
and survives as a buried feature up to 2m wide on the south, east and west
sides. The ditch on the north side of the mound has been destroyed by
terracing for construction work. The bowl barrow has a maximum overall
diameter of 20m.
All fence posts, areas of hard standing and modern services are excluded from
the scheduling although the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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 within Boscombe Down Airfield 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