Details

The monument includes four bowl barrows set above the floor of a dry valley
in an area of gently undulating chalk downland. The eastern barrow mound is
40m in diameter and stands to a height of 1.5m. Although no longer visible at
ground level, a ditch from which material was quarried during the
construction of the monument, surrounds the mound. This has become infilled
over the years and survives as a buried feature c.3m wide. A hollow in the
centre of the mound suggests that it may once have been partially excavated,
probably in the 19th century. The western mound is separated from the
eastern barrow by a distance of some 20m. It is 45m across and 2m high. The
quarry ditch surrounds the mound, surviving as an earthwork 3m wide and 0.5m
deep. A hollow again suggests partial excavation of the mound. The northern
mound appears to have been reduced by cultivation and survives to a diameter
of 25m and is 0.5m high. A ditch surrounding the mound survives as a buried
feature. Immediately south-west of the western mound is the site of a small
bowl barrow c.10m wide with a ditch c.2m wide. This has been levelled
although the ditch and old ground surface are believed to survive.
The monument is part of a wider barrow cemetery, the core of which is
situated some 130m to the north.

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 Sevenbarrows Farm barrows are important as they survive comparatively
well and, despite partial excavation of at least two of the monuments,
they have potential for the recovery of archaeological remains. The
significance of the site is considerably enhanced by its inclusion within
the `Seven Barrows' cemetery. Barrow cemeteries give an indication of the
intensity with which areas were occupied during prehistory and provide
evidence for the range of beliefs and nature of social organisation during
the Bronze Age.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Case, H, 'Berkshire Archaeological Journal' in Berkshire Archaeological Journal (Volume 55), , Vol. 55, (1956), 15-31
Grinsell, L V, 'Berkshire Archaeological Journal' in Berkshire Archaeological Journal (Volume 40), , Vol. 40, (1936), 32-6
Other
NAR (SU 38 SW 10),

Source: Historic England