Summary : A group of one well-preserved and two possible, though degraded, Bronze Age round barrows on Hambledon Hill. The earthworks on Hambledon Hill were surveyed by RCHME in 1996. See the parent record (ST 81 SW 17) and the archive report for full details. Barrow A was portrayed on the Ordnance Survey 1st edition, and on every subsequent survey. It is located on the summit of a slight rise towards the southern end of the northern (hillfort) spur. The mound is circular, 14 metres in diameter and 0.6 metres high, with minimal traces of an encircling ditch on its western side. Two looting or antiquarian excavation trenches are cut into the top of the barrow, which is otherwise well-preserved, perhaps because of its later re-use as a nodal point in the medieval or post-medieval field system. The RCHME survey clearly shows the barrow acted as a focus for two or three field boundaries (see ST 81 SW 69). Barrow B, located 25 metres south of Barrow A, was first noted by Grinsell. It is sub-circular, with a maximum diameter of 8 metres and a height of 0.1 metres, but has been almost levelled by ploughing and is cut by a furrow. Barrow C, identified in the RCHME survey, is 20 metres southwest of A. It is sub-circular, about 11 metres in diameter, and has been reduced by ploughing to a height of 0.2 metres. It has been mutilated by looting or antiquarian excavation, and cut through by a plough furrow. |
More information : ST 84521238 & ST 84521240 Tumuli (NR). (1) Two bowl barrows: 'A' (ST 84521240), diameter 40 feet and height 1 foot, with traces of a ditch on the south side. The centre has been disturbed. 'B' (ST 84521238). Diameter 5 paces and height 1/4 foot. Very flat circle with a slight ditch. (Not listed by RCHM). (2-4) ST 84521240. 'A' A flat topped bowl barrow measures 11.0m diameter and 0.4m high. The centre has been disturbed and the ditch is unsurveyable. ST 84521238. 'B' There is a slight, irregular mound, about 4.0m across and 0.2m high, about 20.0m south of 'A' but it cannot be positively identified as a barrow. The surrounding area is uneven; probably the result of settlement within the Iron Age hillfort (ST 81 SW 10). 'A' Surveyed at 1:2500 on PFD. (5)
Between late May and late August 1996 the Cambridge and Exeter offices of RCHME carried out an earthwork survey and aerial photographic interpretation of the complex of monuments on Hambledon Hill as part of the project to record Industry and Enclosure in the Neolithic period (6).
Barrow A (ST 8452 1240) is as described by Source 5. The ditch is evident as a minimal depression around the W side of the barrow. Two looting trenches cut into the top of the barrow, but the earthwork is otherwise relatively well-preserved, due to its re-use as a nodal point in the ?Post-Medieval field system (ST 81 SW 69).
Barrow B (ST 8452 1238) is as described by Source 5. It has been almost levelled by ploughing and is cut by a furrow.
A third possible barrow was identified by RCHME at ST 8451 1239. It has been mutilated by looting and by a furrow which cuts through it. The original diameter would have been c.11m.
For further details, see RCHME Level 3 client report and earthwork plan at 1:1000 scale, held in archive. (6) |