Details

The monument includes a pair of south west-north east aligned bowl barrows
situated on the summit of Windover Hill, which forms part of the Sussex Downs.
The larger barrow of the two lies to the south west and has a circular mound
c.29m in diameter and up to 2.5m high. Two hollows in the centre provide
visible evidence of the barrow's part excavation in 1833. Finds discovered
during the excavation included several cremation urns dating to the Bronze Age
and a flint scraper. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material used
to construct the barrow was extracted. This has become partly infilled over
the years, but survives as a depression c.3m wide and up to 0.5m deep.
The smaller barrow lies around 27m to the north east and has a mound c.13m in
diameter and up to c.1m high, with a slight central hollow indicating part
excavation some time in the past. The mound is surrounded by an infilled
quarry ditch clearly visible as a dark patch of vegetation c.3m wide.

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.

The pair of bowl barrows on Windover Hill survive particularly well and part
excavation has shown that they will contain archaeological and environmental
evidence relating to the period in which they were constructed and used. The
Windover Hill to Folkington Hill ridge supports a wide range of funerary
monuments, and two flint mines, dating to the Neolithic period and the Bronze
Age. The close association of these monuments illustrates the importance of
the area for burial practices and the extraction of material for implement
manufacture, and provides evidence for the relationship between these types of
activity, during the prehistoric period.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
source 2, RCHME, TQ 50 SW 34, (1934)

Source: Historic England