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Two enclosures and a group of sixteen round barrows on Bulford Down

A Scheduled Monument in Bulford, Wiltshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.2013 / 51°12'4"N

Longitude: -1.7213 / 1°43'16"W

OS Eastings: 419567.688918

OS Northings: 144710.342586

OS Grid: SU195447

Mapcode National: GBR 4ZS.PLV

Mapcode Global: VHC2V.32WF

Entry Name: Two enclosures and a group of sixteen round barrows on Bulford Down

Scheduled Date: 27 January 1965

Last Amended: 19 March 1990

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1009609

English Heritage Legacy ID: 10265

County: Wiltshire

Civil Parish: Bulford

Built-Up Area: Bulford Camp

Traditional County: Wiltshire

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Wiltshire

Church of England Parish: Bulford St Leonard

Church of England Diocese: Salisbury

Details

A group of sixteen round barrows forming two false crested lines along a
summit north of Bulford Camp. The group contains examples of several types of
barrow. Within the western half of the barrow group are traces of two sub-
circular enclosures.
1 - A bowl barrow marked as a bell barrow but with no obvious berm. The mound
is 28m diameter and the ditch 4m wide. The overall diameter is c.36m.
(SU19884463)
2 - A saucer barrow c.28m overall diameter. Probable partial excavation in the
19th century revealed two late Bronze Age urns. The bank appears to be
connected with another barrow in the west. (SU19794461)
3 - A ditched bowl barrow with a mound 14m diameter and a ditch 2.5m wide. The
overall diameter is 19m. The ditch appears to be connected with another barrow
in the north-east. (SU19774460)
4 - A saucer barrow c.30m overall diameter. The bank appears to be connected
with another barrow. (SU19734458)
5 - A disc barrow c.45m overall diameter. The mound is very low but the barrow
is in good condition. The outer bank appears to be connected with another
barrow. (SU19684458)
6 - A disc barrow c.55m overall diameter. The tump is placed to the east of
the centre and the bank and ditch more pronounced on the north-east side.
(SU19624460)
7 - A bowl barrow 25m diameter with a ditch 3m wide, visible all the way round
and a possible outer bank visible in one place. The overall diameter is 31m.
(SU19734463)
8 - A bowl barrow with traces of a ditch, overall diameter c.24m. (SU19734467)
9 - A bell barrow c.44m overall diameter. The mound is to the north of the
centre and the berm is almost non-existent. Partial excavation in the 20th
century revealed two urns between flint layers and an upper layer with a
skeleton and flints. (SU19794468)
10 - A bowl barrow c.16m overall diameter, now very badly damaged by the
military. Partial excavation in the 20th century revealed a secondary
cremation in a bucket urn. (SU19834467)
11 - A bowl barrow with a mound c.40m diameter and a ditch 3m wide. The
overall diameter is 46m. Partial excavation in the 19th century revealed a
Bronze Age urn, a structured pyre and four secondary cremations. (SU19554464)
12 - A ditched bowl barrow c.26m overall diameter. The ditch is traceable by
changes of colour in the vegetation. (SU19554473)
13 - A bowl barrow with traces of a ditch in places, overall diameter c.36m. A
rifle-butt is built over the ditch in the west. Partial excavation in the 19th
century revealed the barrow had already been opened. (SU19444467)
14 - A bowl barrow with traces of a ditch, overall diameter c.36m.
(SU19504475)
15 - A bowl barrow c.24m overall diameter, partially destroyed on the east by
a rifle-butt. (SU19344477)
16 - A bowl barrow with a mound 38m diameter and a ditch 3.5m wide. The
overall diameter is c.46m. (SU19404486)
17 - A circular enclosure at the western end of the barrow group. It is not
visible on the ground due to long grass and weed. (SU19374483)
18 - The north-west quadrant of a sub-circular enclosure within the barrow
group. It may be related to a similar feature to the north-west. (SU19484480)

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The most complete and extensive survival of chalk downland
archaeological remains in central southern England occurs on Salisbury
Plain, particularly in those areas lying within the Salisbury Plain
Training Area. These remains represent one of the few extant
archaeological "landscapes" in Britain and are considered to be of
special significance because they differ in character from those in
other areas with comparable levels of preservation. Individual sites on
Salisbury Plain are seen as being additionally important because the
evidence of their direct association with each other survives so well.

Some 470 round barrows, funerary monuments dating to the late Neolithic
and early Bronze Age, are known to have existed in the Salisbury Plain
Training Area, many grouped together as cemeteries. The total includes
some 70 barrows of rare types. Such is the quality of the survival of
the archaeological landscape, over 300 of these barrows have been
identified as nationally important.

Enclosures provide important evidence of land use and agricultural
practices in the prehistoric/Romano-British period. The enclosures in
the Salisbury Plain Training Area belong to one of the most important
and best preserved fossil landscapes in southern Britain. The presence
of these remains and their relationship with extensive field systems
and settlement complexes, are of critical importance to understanding
the character and development of Downland agriculture.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Trust for Wessex Archaeology, (1987)
Wiltshire Library & Museum Service, (1987)

Source: Historic England

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