Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow set on the crest of a steep south-facing
escarpment in an area of undulating chalk downland. The barrow mound is 15m
in diameter and stands to a height of 2m. A hollow orientated north-south
across the centre of the mound suggests the site was once partially excavated,
probably in the 19th century. Surrounding the barrow mound is a ditch from
which mound material was quarried. This survives as an earthwork 4m wide and
0.2m 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

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.

Despite limited-scale excavation, much of the bowl barrow north of the Alton
White Horse remains intact and has significant archaeological potential. The
presence of numerous other barrows and additional evidence for contemporary
settlement in the area of Bishop's Cannings Down provide a clear indication of
the intensity with which the area was settled during the Bronze Age, further
enhancing the importance of the monument.

Source: Historic England