Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows forming part of a linear round barrow
cemetery consisting of five bowl barrows, only four of which survive as
earthworks, the fifth having been levelled by cultivation. They are situated
on the south facing slope of a rise in the chalk downland. The northern
barrow has a mound 28m in diameter and 0.5m high. Surrounding this is a ditch
from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. It
is no longer visible at ground level having become infilled over the years but
now survives as a buried feature c.3m wide. The southern barrow has a mound
22m in diameter and 0.3m high. This too is surrounded by a ditch which
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

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.

Despite some damage from ploughing, the two barrows south of Westburton Hill
survive as earthworks and 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)

Source: Historic England