Details

The monument includes a pair of round barrows situated on a gentle south-
facing slope just below the summit of a ridge of the Sussex Downs.
To the north east is a saucer barrow with a low central mound 9.5m in diameter
and 0.5m high surrounded by a shallow ditch from which material used to
construct the barrow was excavated. The ditch has become partly infilled over
the years but survives as a depression 3m wide and 0.2m deep, and is in turn
encircled by a low bank 4m wide and up to 0.2m high. The form of the barrow
resembles an upturned saucer.
Five metres to the south west is a bowl barrow with a central mound 9m in
diameter and 0.3m high, surrounded by an infilled ditch surviving largely as a
buried feature c.3m wide. Both barrows were partially excavated in 1859. Ashes
and charcoal were discovered in the saucer barrow, whilst the bowl barrow was
found to contain an inverted urn, a type of Bronze Age pottery vessel.

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

Beneficial land use over the years has enabled Bow Hill and Kingley Vale to
support one of the most diverse and well-preserved areas of chalk downland
archaeological remains in south eastern England. These remains are considered
to be of particular significance because they include types of monument,
dating from the prehistoric and Roman periods, more often found in Wessex and
south western Britain. The well-preserved and often visible relationship
between trackways, settlement sites, land boundaries, stock enclosures, flint
mines, ceremonial and funerary monuments in the area gives significant insight
into successive changes in the pattern of land use over time.
Saucer barrows are funerary monuments of the Early Bronze Age, most examples
dating to between 1800 and 1200 BC. They occur either in isolation or in
barrow cemeteries (closely-spaced groups of round barrows). They were
constructed as a circular area of level ground defined by a bank and internal
ditch and largely occupied by a single low, squat mound covering one or more
burials, usually in a pit. The burials, either inhumations or cremations, are
sometimes accompanied by pottery vessels, tools and personal ornaments. Saucer
barrows are one of the rarest recognised forms of round barrow, with about 60
known examples nationally, most of which are in Wessex. The presence of grave
goods within the barrows provides important evidence for chronological and
cultural links amongst prehistoric communities over a wide area of southern
England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social
organisation. As a rare and fragile form of round barrow, all identified
saucer barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.
Bowl barrows are the most numerous form of round barrow and date 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. 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 are particularly representative of their period. A substantial proportion
of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.
Despite partial excavation, the saucer barrow and bowl barrow on Bow Hill
survive comparatively well and contain archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it
was constructed. The pair of barrows form part of a group of three round
barrows situated on this part of the hill slope, and lies to the north of a
prehistoric flint mine. These monuments are broadly contemporary, and their
close association will provide evidence for the relationship between
industrial activity and burial practice during the period of their
construction and use.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in Sussex Barrows, , Vol. 75, (1934), 247
Smith, Rev. H , 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in Sussex Archaeological Collections, , Vol. 22, (1870), 63-65

Source: Historic England