Details

The monument includes the levelled remains of a Bronze Age ditched bowl
barrow, part of a dispersed group of barrows situated to the south of Woolbury
hillfort on the southern slopes of Stockbridge Down. The monument lies on
gently sloping ground approximately 270m SSW of the hillfort.
The barrow mound was recorded in 1989 as being approximately 19m in diameter,
and is now visible largely in the form of a scatter of flints which represents
the spread of more durable mound material. Surrounding this, and surviving as
a buried feature approximately 3m wide, is the barrow ditch from which
material to construct the mound was quarried.

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.

Stockbridge Down is one of few surviving areas of undisturbed chalk downland
in Wessex and contains a range of generally well preserved archaeological
features. A survey of the area has confirmed the survival of
prehistoric round barrows, linear earthworks and field systems all to the
south of the Iron Age hillfort of Woolbury.
The bowl barrow on Stockbridge Down, despite the erosion which has levelled
the mound, will still contain archaeological remains providing information
about Bronze Age burial practices, economy and environment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Papworth, M, Archaeological Survey, Stockbridge Down and Marsh, Hampshire, (1992), 25
Eagles, B N, 'British Archaeological Reports: British Series' in Woolbury Fields, Stockbridge Down, Hampshire, , Vol. 209, (1989)
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, , Vol. Vol 14, (1938), 353

Source: Historic England