Details

The monument includes two saucer barrows, lying on the crest of Rodmead Hill
775m south east of Rodmead Farm.
The barrows, which are aligned NNW-SSE have been largely levelled by
cultivation but are still visible as low mounds approximately 0.3m high.
The most northerly barrow has been recorded as having a mound 10m in diameter
surrounded by a shallow ditch approximately 1.8m wide and an outer bank 2.7m
wide. Partial excavation carried out by Sir Richard Colt Hoare in October 1807
revealed a pagan Saxon burial. An extended skeleton, with its head to the
north east, was accompanied by a bronze bowl, buckle and clasp, a brass bound
wooden bucket, and a shield boss, sword, knives and spearheads of iron.
The southern barrow has been recorded as having a mound 9.6m in diameter
surounded by a ditch 1.8m wide and with traces of an outer bank 1.8 wide. No
traces of burial were revealed when this barrow was excavated by Colt Hoare.

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

Saucer barrows are funerary monuments of the Early Bronze Age, most examples
dating to between 1800 and l200 BC. They occur either in isolation or in
barrow cemeteries (closely-spaced groups of round barrows). They were
constructed as a circular area of level ground defined by a bank and internal
ditch and largely occupied by a single low, squat mound covering one or more
burials, usually in a pit. The burials, either inhumations or cremations, are
sometimes accompanied by pottery vessels, tools and personal ornaments. Saucer
barrows are one of the rarest recognised forms of round barrow, with about 60
known examples nationally, most of which are in Wessex. The presence of grave
goods within the barrows provides important evidence for chronological and
cultural links amongst prehistoric communities over a wide area of southern
England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social
organisation. As a rare and fragile form of round barrow, all identified
saucer barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.

The saucer barrows 775m south east of Rodmead Farm, despite having been eroded
by cultivation, are known from partial excavation to contain archaeological
remains 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), 46-7

Source: Historic England