Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows 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 situated 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 barrows lie approximately 14m apart at the edge of a modern cricket
ground. The northern barrow includes a steep-sided, flat-topped mound, roughly
circular in shape, surrounded by a shallow ditch except to the south and south
east where it has been partly infilled by the construction of the cricket
ground. The mound stands approximately 2.6m high and is 29m in diameter. A
narrow berm on the east side is probably the result of later tree-fall damage.
The ditch is approximately 3.5m wide and 0.2m deep. The southern barrow
includes a flat- topped mound, also roughly circular in shape, with no visible
trace of an outer ditch, although this will survive as a buried feature
approximately 3m wide. It stands approximately 1.8m high and is 28m in
diameter. A shallow central depression is indicative of later excavation. A
modern earthen footpath passes between the two barrows.

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 two bowl barrows on Petersfield Heath Common 150m south east of the Club
House survive well despite some later disturbance caused by the modern use of
the area as a public recreation ground. These 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