Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on the south side of a ridge
overlooking the river Brede. The barrow mound survives as an earthwork
feature 13m in diameter and stands to a height of 1.3m. Surrounding the
barrow mound is a ditch c.3m wide from which material was quarried during the
construction of the monument. This has become infilled over the years and is
now only visible as a slight depression to the north and east of the mound but
survives as a buried feature elsewhere. A slight hollow in the centre of the
mound suggests that it was once partially excavated.

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 for partial excavation, the bowl barrow in Petley Wood
survives comparatively well and contains archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the landscape in which the monument was
constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
NKB, East Sussex SMR record card, (1973)

Source: Historic England