Details

The monument includes a group of three bowl barrows on the north-facing slope
of Ramsdean Down. The barrows are in a closely-spaced east to west alignment
and have shared ditches.
The western barrow mound is 22m in diameter and 1.5m high. Surrounding the
mound, and visible as a marked step in the natural slope at its south side, is
a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the
monument. Most of the ditch has become infilled over the years but it survives
as a buried feature up to 3m wide.
The central barrow mound, only 2m east of the western one, is 18m in diameter
and 1.8m high. The quarry ditch is infilled but shows as a step cut into
the natural slope south of the barrow mound; elsewhere it survives as a buried
feature 2m wide.
The eastern barrow mound lies 2m east of the central barrow, it is 20m in
diameter and 1.75m high. The quarry ditch is infilled for most of its circuit,
but a short section up to 3m wide is visible at the eastern side of the
monument; the slope on which this barrow stands is less steep than that to the
west and there is no marked step for the ditch to the south of the mound.
Large irregular central depressions in each of the barrow mounds indicate that
they have been dug into in the past, but there is no known record of
antiquarian excavations.

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, the three barrows on Ramsdean Down
survive well as good examples of their class, and will contain archaeological
and environmental information relating to their construction and use.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, (1940), 358
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, (1940), 258

Source: Historic England