Details

The monument includes three bowl barrows on the upper south west facing side
of a hill, on the central upper chalk ridge of the Isle of Wight. These
barrows form part of a wider cemetery on Ashey Down which includes 19
barrows.
Only two of the three barrows can be seen on the ground. These closely spaced
barrows have mounds which measure 15m and 12m in diameter and are 0.2m and
0.5m high respectively. The third barrow is known from previous reports to be
10m in diameter and to have been 0.3m high in 1940. Surrounding each mound is
a ditch from which material was quarried during its construction. These
ditches have become infilled over the years and can no longer be seen at
ground level, but survive as buried features c.2m wide. Two barrows in this
group were partially excavated by B Barrow in 1853. Finds from one of the
barrows included a small Roman urn containing burnt bones and the tusk of an
animal.

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 having been disturbed by cultivation, and two of the barrows
having been partially excavated, the three bowl barrows 220m WSW of the sea
mark are integral to the Ashey Down cemetery and, as is known from one of
those partially excavated, will contain archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the cemetery and the landscape in which it
was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Isle of Wight archaeological index, (1979)
Barrow, B, 'Journal of the British Archaeological Association' in Journal of the British Archaeological Association, (1855), 162ff
Barrow, B, 'Journal of the British Archaeological Association' in Journal of the British Archaeological Association, (1855), 162ff
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), 207-208

Source: Historic England