Ancient Monuments

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Bowl barrow on Treyford Hill

A Scheduled Monument in West Dean, West Sussex

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Coordinates

Latitude: 50.9528 / 50°57'9"N

Longitude: -0.8215 / 0°49'17"W

OS Eastings: 482877.84886

OS Northings: 117698.638077

OS Grid: SU828176

Mapcode National: GBR DFC.34C

Mapcode Global: FRA 965L.FS8

Entry Name: Bowl barrow on Treyford Hill

Scheduled Date: 13 November 1963

Last Amended: 12 October 1992

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1008745

English Heritage Legacy ID: 20094

County: West Sussex

Civil Parish: West Dean

Traditional County: Sussex

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): West Sussex

Church of England Parish: Treyford-cum-Didling St Andrew

Church of England Diocese: Chichester

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow surrounded by a rectangular ditch,
situated on the crest of a ridge in an area of undulating chalk downland. The
barrow comprises a mound 8.5m in diameter and 0.7m high with a central hollow
suggesting that it was once partially excavated. Surrounding this are the
upstanding remains of a sub-rectangular ditch with an internal bank enclosing
an area 14m across. On the west side of the mound the ditch survives as an
earthwork 2.5m wide and 0.4m deep; elsewhere it survives as a buried feature.
The fence line which crosses the southern side of the barrow from east to west
is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath it 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 evidence of partial excavation, the bowl barrow on Treyford Hill
survives comparatively well and contains archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating both to the monument and to the landscape in
which it was constructed. The monument is unusual in that it is surrounded by
a rectangular enclosure which may be contemporary with the barrow's
construction.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in Sussex Barrows, , Vol. 75, (1934)
Other
Ordnance Survey , SU 81 NW 11, (1970)

Source: Historic England

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