Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows aligned east-west and prominently
placed on a south-facing escarpment overlooking Shatterford Bottom. The
eastern barrow mound is flat-topped, measures 19.1m in diameter and stands up
to 1.5m high. A shallow hollow on the eastern side of the summit may be the
result of an early excavation. A ditch, from which material was quarried
during the construction of the monument, surrounds the barrow mound. This has
become partly infilled over the years and survives as a slight earthwork 2m
wide to the south-east of the mound and as a buried feature elsewhere. The
western barrow mound, which has been partly damaged by excavation and animal
burrowing, measures 24m in diameter and stands up to 3m high. A ditch
surrounds the mound and survives as a slight earthwork 2.6m wide and 0.2m deep
around the south-western quadrant. A mound, situated on the south-western
external edge of the ditch and measuring 6m long, 2.6m wide and 0.4m high, may
represent the remnants of an outer bank or small associated barrow. The
barrows lie within a relict field system and a bank, orientated north-east to
south-west, passes between them.

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 two bowl barrows 680m south-west of Beaulieu Road Station have only been
superficially damaged by animal disturbance and partial excavation and form an
important visual feature and landmark within this part of the New Forest.
The monument survives within a region which is known to have been an important
area of lowland Bronze Age occupation. A considerable amount of important
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)
Other
Darvill, T, Monument Class Description - Bowl barrows, 1988,

Source: Historic England