Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow, situated on a west facing slope in an
area of chalk downland, and forming an outlier at the western end of a barrow
cemetery. The cemetery, which is aligned east-west, contains a total of 18
individual barrows. This is one of a number of cemeteries located on the
Downs.
The barrow has a mound which has been reduced by cultivation but survives as a
visible earthwork 10m in diameter and 0.5m high. It is known from earlier
records to have originally stood at least 0.75m high. Surrounding the mound is
a 2m wide quarry ditch from which material was obtained during its
construction. This survives as a buried feature visible on aerial photographs.
The barrow was partly excavated in 1876. An inverted urn placed over burnt
bone fragments and a shale ring were found. The urn broke into small pieces on
discovery while the ring is now in the Devizes Museum.

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

A small number of areas in southern England appear to have acted as foci for
ceremonial and ritual activity during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age
periods. Two of the best known and earliest recognised, with references in the
17th century, are around Avebury and Stonehenge, now jointly designated as a
World Heritage Site. In the Avebury area, the henge monument itself, the West
Kennet Avenue, the Sanctuary, West Kennet long barrow, Windmill Hill
causewayed enclosure and the enigmatic Silbury Hill are well-known. Whilst the
other Neolithic long barrows, the many Bronze Age round barrows and other
associated sites are less well-known, together they define one of the richest
and most varied areas of Neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial and ritual
monuments in the country. Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age
(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 and occasionally associated
with earlier long barrows. Where investigation beyond the round barrows has
occurred, contemporary or later `flat' burials between the barrow mounds have
often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland
England with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases they are
clustered around other important contemporary monuments, as is the case both
here and at Stonehenge. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major
historic element in the modern landscape, while their diversity and their
longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of
beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. All
examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite having been slightly reduced by cultivation, this bowl barrow survives
as an upstanding monument and is known from being partly excavated to contain
archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the cemetery and the
landscape in which it was built.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire, (1957), 157
Other
C/CPE/UK 1821 5072, R.A.F. (R.C.H.M.(E) NMRC SWINDON), R.A.F.,
D0467/11/108, Devizes Museum, Shale Ring, (1876)
SU06NW 646, C.A.O., BOWL BARROW, (1992)
Title: 1:10560 Map (SMR overlay)
Source Date: 1980
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
SU 06 NW

Source: Historic England