Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows and a third levelled barrow situated on
a gentle spur overlooking the valley of the River Avon on Amesbury Down. The
barrows are arranged in a line broadly north west to south east. The mound of
the most northerly barrow is 19m in diameter, 1m high and is surrounded by an
infilled ditch about 2m wide from which material was excavated during its
construction. The most southerly barrow mound is 26m in diameter, 0.5m high
and is surrounded by an infilled quarry ditch which aerial photographs show to
be penannular and about 3m wide. The levelled barrow is located between the
two extant barrows and is no longer visible at ground level. The quarry ditch
is, however, visible on aerial photographs from which its overall diameter is
calculated to be 17m.

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.

Two of the bowl barrows 460m north east of Normanton House on Amesbury Down
survive well, and despite the third example being levelled by ploughing, all
three barrows will contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence
relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire, (1957), 152
Grinsell, LV, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume V, (1957), 152
Grinsell, LV, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume V, (1957), 152
Hoare, R C, Ancient Wiltshire, (1812), 197f
Goddard, Rev E H, 'Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine' in List of Prehistoric, Roman, and Pagan Saxon Antiquities, (1913), 171
Goddard, Rev E H, 'Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine' in List of Prehistoric, Roman, and Pagan Saxon Antiquities, (1913), 171
Goddard, Rev E H, 'Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine' in List of Prehistoric, Roman, and Pagan Saxon Antiquities, , Vol. 38, (1914), 171
Other
3 Air Photo Transcription & Analysis, Samuels, J, A303 Amesbury - Berwick Down, -, (1992)
3, AP Transcription & Analysis, Samuels, J, A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down, -, (1992)

Source: Historic England