Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, and part of a later enclosure, on the
mid-slope of a north east facing hillside on the central upper chalk ridge of
the Isle of Wight. The barrow forms part of a wider cemetery on Ashey Down
which includes 19 barrows.
The barrow has a mound which measures 25m in diameter and is 1m high.
Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during its
construction. This ditch has become infilled over the years and can no longer
be seen at ground level, but survives as a buried feature c.3m wide.
The barrow has a central depression 9m in diameter and 0.2m deep indicative of
antiquarian investigation.
The short section of enclosure boundary is 28m long running in a north east-
south west direction and part of it overlies the south east side of the
barrow.
The boundary includes a bank 0.5m high and internal ditch, 0.5m wide and 0.3m
deep, forming part of a large enclosure covering c.1.4ha.
Drewett, who surveyed this part of Ashey Down in 1969, considered the
enclosure to be medieval in date.

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

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise
closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds
covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a
considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as
a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit
considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including
several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier
long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them,
contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been
revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a
marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other
important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent
locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst
their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are
considered worthy of protection.

Despite evidence for partial excavation, the bowl barrow 490m north east of
the sea mark is integral to the Ashey Down cemetery. The barrow and the
section of enclosure boundary will contain archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the monuments on Ashey Down and the
landscape in which they were constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Drewett, P L, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club, , Vol. 27, (1970), 56
Drewett, P L, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club, , Vol. 27, (1970), 55
Drewett, P L, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club, , Vol. 27, (1970), 55-56
Grinsell, , Sherwin, , 'Proceedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Soc' in Procedings of the I.O.W. Nat History and Archaeological Soc, , Vol. 3, (1940), 208-209

Source: Historic England