Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow 650m south east of Baycliffe Farm. The
barrow, which lies on a narrow ridge forming the western end of Brimsdown
Hill, includes a slightly oval mound approximately 22m (east-west) by 18m and
2.5m high. A 3m wide ditch, from which material to construct the mound would
have been quarried, is visible on the eastern (upslope) side of the mound
only. Elsewhere around the mound it has been infilled and will survive as a
buried feature.
The barrow was partially excavated by Sir Richard Colt Hoare in May 1807 when
a cist containing a cremation burial, a bone pin and a small bronze dagger
were found.
All fence posts are excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath
these features is included.

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

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments
dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most
examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as
earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple
burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often
acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar,
although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form
and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl
barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring
across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are
a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable
variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.

The bowl barrow 650m south east of Baycliffe Farm is a well preserved example
of its class. Partial excavation has demonstrated it to be of Bronze Age date.
Further archaeological remains will survive providing information about Bronze
Age beliefs, economy and environment.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Colt Hoare, R, The Ancient History of Wiltshire: Volume I, (1812), 41

Source: Historic England