Details

The monument includes three bowl barrows aligned north-south and situated on
a west facing slope north of Beachy Head. The southern of the three barrows
comprises a mound 11m in diameter and 0.3m high with a surrounding ditch from
which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This is
no longer visible at ground level, having become infilled over the years, but
survives as a buried feature 2m wide. The middle barrow has a mound 22m in
diameter and 0.7m high and a surrounding quarry ditch which survives as a
buried feature c.3m wide. The northern of the three barrows comprises a mound
12m in diameter and 0.2m high with an infilled surrounding ditch c.2m across.

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 some spreading caused by cultivation, the bowl barrows on Heathy Brow
survive comparatively well and contain archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating both to the monument and the landscape in
which the barrow was constructed. Such closely spaced groups of barrows
provide an insight into the nature and intensity of human occupation in this
area during the Bronze Age period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in Sussex Barrows (Volume 75), , Vol. 75, (1934), 275
Other
Bradley, R, TV 59 NE 60, (1969)

Source: Historic England