Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow of Late Neolithic or Bronze Age date,
prominently situated within Woolmer Forest on a high sandy promontory on
Weavers Down, commanding extensive views to the south and west. It is one of a
large number of isolated barrows, barrow groups and round barrow cemeteries
located in and around Woolmer Forest, some of which are the subject of
separate schedulings.
The barrow is surrounded by a later tree ring of partially collapsed drystone
walling and has been clipped on all sides by heavy vehicle tracks associated
with the modern use of the area as a military training ground. It survives in
good condition, however, as a circular, flat-topped mound, 23m in diameter and
approximately 2m high. The mound and tree ring are surrounded by a partly
infilled quarry ditch, 3m wide, from which material would have been obtained
for the mound's construction. The barrow was reportedly partially excavated in
1883 by Reverend Cardew, who recovered fragments of a hollowed tree trunk
coffin containing human hair and probable fragments of animal skin clothing.
Further buried remains associated with the original construction and use of
the monument can also be expected to survive beneath the mound and within the
ditch fill.
The shelter erected on the monument and the walling are excluded from the
scheduling, although the ground beneath them 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 on Weavers Down situated 850m NNE of Wylds Farm survives well
despite some later disturbance and has been demonstrated by partial excavation
to retain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the
monument and the environment in which it was constructed. The monument is
closely associated with a number of other round barrow cemeteries and barrow
groups within the area of Woolmer Forest which together constitute a
particularly well-preserved ritual landscape of the Late Neolithic and Bronze
Age periods.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, , Vol. 14, (1940), 354
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club' in Hampshire Barrows, , Vol. 14, (1939), 195
Grinsell, L V, 'Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society' in Hampshire Barrows, , Vol. 7, (1941), 104

Source: Historic England