Details

The monument includes five bowl barrows set on a prominent ridge-top some 5km
south of the River Kennet and in an area of undulating chalk downland.
Starting from the northern mound and moving anti-clockwise the barrows may
be described as follows: a barrow 18m in diameter and 2m high; some 15m to
the south-west is a second barrow mound, 22m in diameter and 2m high; 13m to
the south is a further bowl barrow, 30m in diameter and 2.5m high; 15m to
the east is a mound 19m across and 2m high; 18m further to the east is a
fifth barrow mound 30m across and 2.5m high. Although no longer visible as
earthworks, all the barrow mounds were surrounded by ditches from which
material was quarried during the construction of the monument. These have
been infilled over the years but survive as buried features c.3m wide.
The monument is part of a wider barrow cemetery comprising seven bowl barrows
within an area 450m by 100m.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

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 some recent disturbance to the site caused by afforestation, much
of the Square Copse barrow cemetery survives comparatively well and has
potential for the recovery of archaeological remains. The significance of
the monument is considerably enhanced by its inclusion within a wider barrow
cemetery. Such groups of monuments give an indication of the intensity with
which areas were settled during prehistory and provide evidence for the
range of beliefs and nature of social organisation in the Bronze Age.

Source: Historic England