Details

This monument includes a bell barrow situated on a west to east orientated
ridge overlooking the valley of Mill Lawn Brook. The barrow mound measures
15.5m in diameter and stands up to 1m high. A 1.2m square hole in the mound
centre is the site of a partial excavation undertaken in 1949. This work
revealed three rectangular stone cists or graves at a depth of 1.5m beneath
the mound surface. All three cists contained cremation burials but only two
were accompanied by pottery. Surrounding the mound is a 2.5m wide berm and an
outer ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the
monument. This has become partly infilled over the years but survives as a
slight earthwork 2m wide and 0.15m deep.

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

Bell barrows, the most visually impressive form of round barrow, are funerary
monuments dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, with most examples
belonging to the period 1500-1100 BC. They occur either in isolation or in
round barrow cemeteries and were constructed as single or multiple mounds
covering burials, often in pits, and surrounded by an enclosure ditch. The
burials are frequently accompanied by weapons, personal ornaments and pottery
and appear to be those of aristocratic individuals, usually men. Bell barrows
(particularly multiple barrows) are rare nationally, with less than 250 known
examples, most of which are in Wessex. Their richness in terms of grave goods
provides evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst early
prehistoric communities over most of southern and eastern England as well as
providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a
particularly rare form of round barrow, all identified bell barrows would
normally be considered to be of national importance.

Despite partial excavation in 1949, the bell barrow 900m north-west of
Wilverley Post survives comparatively well within the New Forest, an area
known to have been important in terms of lowland Bronze Age occupation. A
considerable amount of archaeological evidence has survived in this area
because of a lack of agricultural activity, the result of later climatic
deterioration, development of heath and the establishment of a Royal Forest.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, , Vol. 14, (1938), 212

Source: Historic England