Details

The monument includes three contiguous bowl barrows orientated east-west and
set below the crest of a steep north-facing escarpment. The western barrow
mound is 9m across and stands to a height of 1m. Surrounding it is a ditch
from which the mound material was quarried. This is visible to the south-east
as a low earthwork 4m wide and 0.4m deep, and survives elsewhere as a buried
feature. The central mound has a diameter of 13m and a height of 1.5m.
The ditch is visible as an earthwork, 4m wide and 0.3m deep, to the south of
the mound and survives as a buried feature elsewhere. The eastern barrow has
a diameter of 10m and is 1m high. The ditch abuts that of the central barrow
mound but is visible to the north, south and east to a depth of 0.5m and a
width of 4m. All the mounds were partially excavated in 1908. Finds included
two cremation burials and a selection of artefacts including pottery and flint
tools.

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.

The Inkpen Hill Barrow cemetery is of particular importance because, despite
partial excavation in 1908, it survives well and has considerable
archaeological potential. The barrow group is central to a wider barrow
cemetery, dispersed along the crest of Inkpen Hill. Such monuments provide a
clear indication of the intensity with which the area was settled during the
Bronze Age period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
(Newbury Museum Acc No 1909/117b),
Newbury Museum Acc No 0.4.357, Crawford, O G S,

Source: Historic England