Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow which forms part of a prehistoric linear
round barrow cemetery running from west to east along a ridge of the Sussex
Downs. The barrow has a circular mound c.12m in diameter and c.0.5m high, with
an uneven surface indicating part excavation some time in the past. The mound
is surrounded by a ditch from which material used to construct the barrow was
excavated. This has become infilled over the years but survives as a buried
feature c.2m 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

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.

Bowl barrows are the most numerous form of round barrow and date from the Late
Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age. Most examples were constructed in the
period 2400-1500 BC. They occur across most of lowland Britain and, although
superficially similar in appearance, exhibit regional variations of form and a
diversity of burial practices.
Although it shows signs of past, part excavation, the bowl barrow 780m south
east of Westmeston Farm survives comparatively well and will contain
archaeological and environmental evidence relating to the period in which it
was constructed and used.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
source 2, RCHME, TQ 31 SW 23, (1934)

Source: Historic England