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Bowl barrow south of The Beeches: part of Plumpton Plain round barrow cemetery

A Scheduled Monument in East Chiltington, East Sussex

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.8966 / 50°53'47"N

Longitude: -0.0537 / 0°3'13"W

OS Eastings: 536965.59

OS Northings: 112599.251

OS Grid: TQ369125

Mapcode National: GBR KPL.R79

Mapcode Global: FRA B6SQ.T1J

Entry Name: Bowl barrow south of The Beeches: part of Plumpton Plain round barrow cemetery

Scheduled Date: 7 July 1994

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1008155

English Heritage Legacy ID: 24380

County: East Sussex

Civil Parish: East Chiltington

Traditional County: Sussex

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): East Sussex

Church of England Parish: Plumpton with East Chiltington-cum-Novington

Church of England Diocese: Chichester

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, one of a group of 15 round barrows
forming a linear round barrow cemetery running from west to east along a ridge
of the Sussex Downs. The bowl barrow has a circular mound 7m in diameter and
0.3m high. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material used to
construct the barrow was excavated. This has become infilled over the years
but is visible as an area of coarser vegetation c.2m 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

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

Bowl barrows are the most numerous form of round barrow and date from the Late
Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age. Most examples were constructed in the
period 2400-1500 BC. They occur across most of lowland Britain and, although
superficially similar in appearance, exhibit regional variations of form and a
diversity of burial practices.
The bowl barrow south of The Beeches 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

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in Sussex Barrows, , Vol. 75, (1934), 258

Source: Historic England

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