Details

The monument includes a large mound in Bramshill Forest, known at least since
1607 as `Windmill Stem'.
Lying south of Bracknell on what was formerly Easthamstead Plain, it occupies
a prominent position on the edge of the plateau overlooking the lower ground
to the south west, and is believed to have originated as a Bronze Age burial
mound.
The monument includes a 35m diameter mound which stands up to 1m high and has
a levelled summit approximately 18m across. It is surrounded by a shallow,
largely infilled ditch about 2.5m wide, visible as a slight earthwork. The
levelling of the summit is believed to date from the medieval, post-medieval
or early modern periods when it appears to have been adapted for reuse as a
windmill mound or artillery platform.

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 known as Windmill Stem survives well despite later remoulding
of its summit, and continues to be an important landscape feature in what is
now otherwise featureless woodland. The barrow will contain valuable
archaeological remains relating to its construction, function and the
prehistoric landscape in which it was built, while evidence for its reuse will
provide important information about the nature of later activity in the area.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
PRN 00414.00.000, S.M.R.O., Windmill Stem, (1984)

Source: Historic England