Details

The monument includes a disc barrow of Bronze Age date, prominently situated
on the crest of a low ridge on Petersfield Heath Common, between Heath Pond
and Heath Road East. It forms part of a round barrow cemetery east of Heath
Pond, known as the Petersfield Heath Group. Now comprising 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 disc barrow includes a flat central platform, circular in shape, raised
approximately 0.15m and with a diameter of 11m. Unusually, it is surrounded by
a bank, approximately 4.5m wide and 0.3m high, and a partly infilled outer
ditch, 3.5m wide and 0.15m deep. A shallow depression in the centre of the
platform is indicative of damage caused by later excavation, possibly the
source of a number of worked pieces of flint reportedly recovered from this
barrow.

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.

Disc barrows, the most fragile type of round barrow, date mostly to the period
1400-1200BC, the Early Bronze Age. They are rare nationally with about 250
known examples, most of which are in Wessex.
The disc barrow on Petersfield Heath Common 460m south of the Club House
survives well despite some later disturbance, and is unusual in having its
ditch outside the bank rather than inside. 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, (1940), 356
Minty, G P, 'Archaeological Journal' in Archaeological Journal, , Vol. 13, (1856), 412
Other
Piggott, Stuart, (1930)

Source: Historic England