Details

This monument includes six closely spaced bowl barrows situated on the brow of
a west-facing slope overlooking King's Copse Inclosure. The eastern barrow
and two of the western barrows have hollows in the centre of the mound
suggesting previous partial excavation. These are probably the barrows
recorded as having been opened in the mid-19th century and found to contain
graves. Although no longer visible at ground level, four of the smaller
barrows are surrounded by ditches from which material was quarried during the
construction of the mounds. These have become infilled over the years and
survive as buried features c.1m wide. From east to west the barrows can be
described as follows:
(SU 43030210) The barrow mound measures 9m in diameter and stands up to 0.6m
high. Surrounding the mound is a quarry ditch which survives as a slight
unsurveyable hollow.
(SU 43020210) The barrow mound measures 4m in diameter and 0.3m high.
(SU 43020211) The barrow mound measures 4.6m in diameter and 0.3m high.
(SU 43010211) The barrow mound measures 5m in diameter and 0.3m high.
(SU 43010210) The barrow mound measures 4.5m in diameter and 0.25m high.
(SU 43000210) The barrow mound measures 4m in diameter and 0.6m high.
Surrounding the mound is a quarry ditch which survives as a slight earthwork
1.2m wide and 0.2m on the eastern side of the mound and as a buried feature
elsewhere.

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 Row Down round barrow cemetery contains a significantly large number of
small barrows and lies within the New Forest. The survival of so many small
barrows within a cemetery is a particularly uncommon phenomenon in southern
England. Although some of the mounds have been partially disturbed, all the
barrows retain undisturbed remains and the cemetery as a whole has
considerable archaeological potential. The New Forest region is known to have
been important in terms of lowland Bronze Age occupation and a considerable
amount of archaeological evidence has survived 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
Wise, J R, The New Forest, (1893), 211
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, , Vol. 14, (1938), 362
Other
Hampshire County Planning Department, SU40SW44,

Source: Historic England