Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows situated on South Heath, on an east-
facing slope, overlooking the Piddle Valley to the north east and Frome Valley
to the south east.
The barrows, which are aligned north west by south east, each have a mound
composed of sand, gravel and turf, with maximum dimensions of 14m-18m in
diameter and 1.8m-2m in height. Both barrows have a cut through the top of
the mound; these features represent tank tracks and relate to former military
training activities.
Each mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material was quarried during
the construction of the monument. The ditches have become infilled over the
years, but will survive as buried features 1.5m wide.

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.

Despite some disturbance by military training activities, the two bowl barrows
on South Heath survive well and will contain archaeological and environmental
evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was
constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
RCHME, National Monuments Record,

Source: Historic England