Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow set at the head of a dry valley in an
area of undulating chalk downland known as Ogbourne Maizey Down. The barrow
mound is 26m in diameter and 0.75m high. Surrounding the mound, but no
longer visible at ground level, is a ditch from which material was quarried
during the construction of the monument. This has become infilled over the
years but survives as a buried feature c.3m wide. The site was partially
excavated in 1879. A large number of sarsen blocks occur on the surface of
the barrow mound, although these more likely represent a field dump than
part of the fabric of the site.

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 partial excavation of the Rockley Plantation barrow mound, much of
the monument, particularly the old ground surface and the ditch deposits,
remain intact and survive comparatively well. The site therefore has
significant potential for the recovery of archaeological remains. The
importance of the monument is enhanced by the fact that numerous other
barrow mounds survive in the area, providing an illustration of the
intensity with which the area was settled during the Bronze Age period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
28 March 1990, Schofield, A J, 28 March 1990, (1990)

Source: Historic England