Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow set just below the crest of a north facing
hillside commanding wide views over Bowcombe Down.

The barrow has a mound which measures 24m east-west and 27m north-south and is
c.3m high. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried
during its construction. This has become infilled over the years and can no
longer be seen at ground level, but survives as a buried feature c.5m wide.

The mound was partially excavated by Hillier in 1854.

This barrow has been known as 'Gallibury' after a gallows occupied the mound.
The barrow is shown as a mound and a beacon on a 19th century map.

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.

Despite partial excavation in 1854, the bowl barrow on Newbarn Down survives
well and will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence
relating to the barrow and the landscape in which it was constructed and later
reused as a gallows and beacon.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Kell Ed. A, , Historical Topography and Antiquities of the Isle of Wight, (1856)
Kokeritz, , Place Names of the Isle of Wight, (1940)
'Barrow Excavation in the Isle of Wight' in Current Archaeology, , Vol. 68, (), 274
'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club, , Vol. 10, (1927), 221ff
'Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Soc' in Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Society, (1940), 205,189
'Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Soc' in Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Society, (1940), 205,189
'Journal of the British Archaeological Association' in Journal of the British Archaeological Assocation, , Vol. 2, (1855), 34

Source: Historic England