Details

The monument includes three bowl barrows situated on a west facing slope with
views north west towards Stonehenge, 150m south of the A303. The barrows are
arranged in a line broadly north west to south east. The northernmost barrow
mound stands to a height of 1.4m and is 16m in diameter, the central barrow
mound is 0.5m high and 17m in diameter; these appear to have been confluent.
The southernmost barrow mound is 0.6m high and 15m in diameter. All three
barrow mounds are surrounded by ditches from which material was quarried
during their construction. These have become largely infilled over the years
but survive as slight earthworks c.0.2m deep and between 1.5m and 3m wide,
giving an overall diameter of 21m for the southern bowl barrow and 19m and 21m
for the central and northern barrows respectively. Two of the barrows were
partially excavated in the 19th century when several burials were found,
including those of two infants. Primary and secondary cremations together with
accompanying grave goods were also found.
All fence posts are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath these
features is included.

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

A small number of areas in southern England appear to have acted as foci for
ceremonial and ritual activity during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods.
Two of the best known and earliest recognised areas are around Avebury and
Stonehenge, now jointly designated as a World Heritage Site.
The area of chalk downland which surrounds Stonehenge contains one of the
densest and most varied groups of Neolithic and Bronze Age field monuments in
Britain. Included within the area are Stonehenge itself, the Stonehenge
cursus, the Durrington Walls henge, and a variety of burial monuments, many
grouped into cemeteries.
The area has been the subject of archaeological research since the 18th
century when Stukeley recorded many of the monuments and partially excavated a
number of the burial mounds. More recently, the collection of artefacts from
the surfaces of ploughed fields has supplemented the evidence for ritual and
burial by revealing the intensity of contemporary settlement and land-use.
In view of the importance of the area, all ceremonial and sepulchral monuments
of this period which retain significant archaeological remains are identified
as nationally important. 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, normally 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 variety of burial practices. There are over
10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally and at least 320 in the
Stonehenge area. This group of monuments will provide important information
on the development of this area during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age
periods.

The three bowl barrows 150m south of the A303 survive comparatively well and
are known from partial excavation to contain archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it
was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, LV, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume V, (1957), 150
Grinsell, LV, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume V, (1957), 150
Grinsell, LV, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume V, (1957), 150
Hoare, R C, Ancient History of Wiltshire, (1812), 199

Source: Historic England