Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows aligned east-west and situated on a
north facing slope, in an area of chalk downland. From east to west, the
mounds have diameters of 22m and 10m and are 3.5m and 1m high respectively.
Surrounding each mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during its
construction. The ditch of the larger barrow has become largely infilled over
the years but can be seen as a slight depression 2.5m wide and 0.2m deep. The
ditch of the smaller barrow can no longer be seen at ground level, but
survives as a buried feature c.2m wide.

There is a central depression in the top of the larger barrow mound indicative
of an antiquarian excavation.

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 evidence for partial excavation of the larger barrow, the bowl barrows
on Newbarn Down survive well and will contain archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the barrows and the landscape in which they
were constructed. These barrows are amongst a number which survive in the area
of Brighstone Forest.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
'Proceedings of the I.O.W Nat History and Archaeological Soc' in Proceedings of the I.O.W Nat History and Archaeological Soc, , Vol. 3, (1940), 205

Source: Historic England