Summary

Five bowl barrows 360m south-east of Hamptworth Lodge.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 24 September 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument, which falls into fives areas, includes five bowl barrows situated on the summit of a low hill on a ridge forming the watershed between the valleys of the River Blackwater and one of its tributaries. The barrows survive as circular mounds surrounded by quarry ditches from which the construction material was derived which are preserved differentially. The mounds vary in size from 15m up to 26m in diameter and from 1.5m up to 3.5m high. Three have clearly visible ditches of up to 3m wide and 0.5m deep, the others have buried ditches. One mound has a central excavation hollow and another has a flat top.

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. 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. Despite scrub and tree growth the five bowl barrows 360m south-east of Hamptworth Lodge survive comparatively well and will contain archaeological and environmental evidence relating to their construction, relative chronologies, territorial significance, social organisation, ritual and funerary practices and overall landscape context.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PastScape 222646
Wiltshire HER SU21NW600, SU21NW601, SU21NW602, SU21NW603 and SU21NW604

Source: Historic England