Ancient Monuments

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Bowl barrow 200m south-east of Well Combe

A Scheduled Monument in Meads, East Sussex

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.7506 / 50°45'2"N

Longitude: 0.2625 / 0°15'45"E

OS Eastings: 559700.987778

OS Northings: 96991.309

OS Grid: TV597969

Mapcode National: GBR MVF.TD2

Mapcode Global: FRA C7F3.B2P

Entry Name: Bowl barrow 200m south-east of Well Combe

Scheduled Date: 1 November 1963

Last Amended: 13 January 1994

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1007876

English Heritage Legacy ID: 20189

County: East Sussex

Electoral Ward/Division: Meads

Built-Up Area: Eastbourne

Traditional County: Sussex

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): East Sussex

Church of England Parish: Eastbourne St John,Meads

Church of England Diocese: Chichester

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a gentle east-facing slope on
a rise in an area of chalk downland. The barrow survives as a mound 19m in
diameter and 1m high surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried
during the construction of the monument. The ditch is no longer visible at
ground level, having become infilled over the years, but survives as a buried
feature c.3m wide.

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 some disturbance caused by animal burrowing, the bowl barrow 200m
south-east of Well Combe survives well and contains archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it
was constructed. As part of a wider concentration of Bronze Age burial mounds
surviving in the area, it contributes to our understanding of the nature and
scale of human occupation on the Downs during the Bronze Age period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in Sussex Barrows, , Vol. 72, (1934)

Source: Historic England

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