Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow, one of several dispersed
barrows in the National Nature Reserve on Martin Down east of Bokerley Dyke.
The barrow lies on a slight south east facing slope.
The barrow has a mound 19m in diameter and c.1m high. Surrounding the mound is
a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. This has
become infilled over the years but survives as a buried feature c.2m wide.
The surface of the mound shows no irregularities which might indicate the site
of antiquarian excavation, although this is known to have occurred to other
barrows on Martin Down.

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.

The barrow 520m north east of the shoulder angle of Bokerley Dyke survives
well as one of numerous Bronze Age monuments constructed on Martin Down. These
have recently been the subject of a detailed survey. The barrow will contain
archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction and
use.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, , Vol. 14, (1938), 356

Source: Historic England