Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow of Late Neolithic to Bronze Age date
situated on low lying ground at the northern end of Petersfield Heath Common.
It forms part of a round barrow cemetery east of Heath Pond, known as the
Petersfield Heath Group. Now comprising a total of 21 barrows, a first edition
Ordnance Survey map dated to 1810 indicates that this round barrow cemetery
was formerly more extensive, including further barrows situated to the north
and east, now destroyed by modern housing.
The barrow includes a flat-topped mound, roughly circular in shape, surrounded
by a partly infilled quarry ditch. The mound stands approximately 2m high and
has a diameter of about 27m. A shallow central depression is indicative of
later excavation. The ditch is approximately 2.5m wide and 0.25m deep, except
on the south where it has been partly infilled by the construction of a modern
cricket ground.

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, with most examples belonging to the
period 2400-1500BC.
The bowl barrow on Petersfield Heath Common 240m east of the Club House
survives well despite some later disturbance caused by the modern use of the
area as a public recreation ground. This and the other barrows in the group
can be expected to retain important archaeological remains and environmental
evidence relating to the cemetery and the environment in which it was
constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, , Vol. 14, (1939)

Source: Historic England