Details

The monument includes four closely spaced bowl barrows situated on top of
the west side of a sandy spur overlooking chalk downland.
The barrow mounds are spaced between 20m and 30m of each other and vary
between 20m and 28m in diameter and 0.4m and 1.5m in height. Although no
longer visible at ground level, ditches, from which material was quarried
during construction of the barrows, surround each of the mounds. These have
become infilled over the years but survive as buried features up to 4m wide.
Two of the barrows in this group were partially excavated in 1831. Finds
included several ceramic urns containing burnt bones and ashes.
The triangulation station on the south-western barrow is excluded from the
scheduling, but the ground beneath is included.

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 cultivation and evidence for partial excavation of two of the mounds,
the bowl barrows to the north-east of Woodman's Cross have survived well and
will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the
monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. This group is one of
several to survive locally and, as such, it will contribute to our
understanding of Bronze Age settlement in the area.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
RCHME, , 'South-East part 3' in County of Dorset, , Vol. Vol 2, (1970)

Source: Historic England