Details

The monument includes a bell barrow set on a south-facing slope in an area of
undulating chalk downland. The barrow mound is 14m in diameter and stands 4m
high. Surrounding the barrow mound but no longer visible at ground level are
a berm and ditch. The berm is c.5m wide and the ditch, from which material
was quarried during construction of the monument, is 3m wide. This has become
infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature.

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

Bell barrows, the most visually impressive form of round barrow, are funerary
monuments dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, with most examples
belonging to the period 1500-1100 BC. They occur either in isolation or in
round barrow cemeteries and were constructed as single or multiple mounds
covering burials, often in pits, and surrounded by an enclosure ditch. The
burials are frequently accompanied by weapons, personal ornaments and pottery
and appear to be those of aristocratic individuals, usually men. Bell barrows
(particularly multiple barrows) are rare nationally, with less than 250 known
examples, most of which are in Wessex. Their richness in terms of grave goods
provides evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst early
prehistoric communities over most of southern and eastern England as well as
providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a
particularly rare form of round barrow, all identified bell barrows would
normally be considered to be of national importance.

The Rook Hill bell barrow survives well and has potential for the recovery of
archaeological remains as well as environmental evidence relating to the
landscape in which the monument was constructed. The importance of the site
is further enhanced by the fact that numerous other round barrows survive in
the area as well as additional evidence for contemporary settlement. Such
evidence provides an indication of the extent to which the area was settled
during the Bronze Age period.

Source: Historic England