Details

The monument includes a bell barrow located 770m north west of New Barn, south
east of Longbarrow Clump on Earls Farm Down. The barrow has a slightly
irregular mound, measuring 22m east-west and 20m north-south. The top of the
mound is hollowed and flattened, probably as the result of an unrecorded
antiquarian excavation, and is 2.5m high on the east side and 2m high on the
west. Surrounding the mound is a berm c.3m wide and in places, traces of a
quarry ditch visible as a shallow depression. Elsewhere, the ditch will
survive as a buried feature 5m wide. The bell barrow therefore has an overall
diameter of 38m.

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

Bell barrows, the most visually impressive form of round barrow, are funerary
monuments dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, with most examples
belonging to the period 1500-1100 BC. They occur either in isolation or in
round barrow cemeteries and were constructed as single or multiple mounds
covering burials, often in pits, and surrounded by an enclosure ditch. The
burials are frequently accompanied by weapons, personal ornaments and pottery
and appear to be those of aristocratic individuals, usually men. Bell barrows
(particularly multiple barrows) are rare nationally, with less than 250 known
examples, most of which are in Wessex. Their richness in terms of grave goods
provides evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst early
prehistoric communities over most of southern and eastern England as well as
providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a
particularly rare form of round barrow, all identified bell barrows would
normally be considered to be of national importance.

The bell barrow 770m north west of New Barn survives well and 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, LV, The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume V, (1957), 162

Source: Historic England