| Summary : A Bronze Age round barrow cemetery, comprising 1 bell barrow, 1 saucer barrow, 1 pond barrow, 5 disc barrows, and 10 bowl barrows. Most were excavated in the early 19th century by Colt Hoare, and several still stand as substantial earthworks. Seven of the barrows are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs (also described in SU 13 NW 106, 107, 109-114). Ten of the barrows are situated in a small wood and survive as earthworks. One of the barrows (also described in SU 13 NW 115) has been ploughed level but is not visible on aerial photographs. The barrow cemetery is situated on an east facing slope between 90m and 103m above OD. The barrows have a roughly east-west alignment but do not have a neat linear arrangement. A round barrow (described in SU 13 NW 33) could be an outlier and is situated 140m to the south of the group. The Lake Down barrow cemetery is also situated 400m to the south of this barrow cemetery. Individual monument records for each barrow have been created, see SU 13 NW 98-114. |
More information : [Centred SU 11923979] Wilsford Group [NAT] Tumuli [NR]. (1)
'Wifel's ford' - 'Wifelsford' of Domesday Book 1086, a group
of bowl, bell, disc, saucer and pond barrows, all excavated by
Colt Hoare. [see tabulated list]. (2-3)
GRAPHICAL MATERIAL OMITTED.
58. Overspread berm; overall diameter 46m, height 3.0m, depth
of ditch 0.5m.
59. Diameter 13m, height 0.7m.
60. Diameter 29m, height 2.1m Vague, unsurveyable ditch.
61. Diam 17m, height 0.9m.
62. Diam 35m, height 2.1m; faint indications of a ditch.
63. Overall diam 29m, bank 0.4m high, central depression 0.8m deep.
64. Ditched, overall diam 43m, height 2.4m, ditch 0.4m deep.
65. Ditched, overal diam 40m, height 2.4m, ditch 0.2m deep.
67. Diam 17m, height 0.3m.
68. Diam 18m, height 0.4m.
64a. Overall diameter 50m, max height 0.6m.
The remainder of the barrows 66, 69-73 and 73a are under
cultivation; though traceable they have been virtually destroyed. (4)
A plano-convex flint knife was found in Barrow G60. (5)
There is an illustration of the curved fork-shaped casting with
twisted prongs from G58 in (6)
Evans noted the following bronze and stone implements from
Wilsford Barrows: small spearhead with loops, 3.5" long; bronze
axe and other objects with burial; rubbing stone with other
objects and a skeleton; whetstones with bronze daggers; stone
hammer in association with bronze finds; flint arrowhead and
chipped flints; "brass pin".
(7,8)
Additional Reference. (9)
Seven of the barrows in the barrow cemetery described above are visible as cropmarks and have been mapped from aerial photographs.
Wilsford 66 (also described in SU 13 NW 109) is visible as a ring ditch, possibly marking a hollow in the centre, surrounded by a bank, another ring ditch and another bank resulting in a barrow with an overall diameter of 45.6m.
Wilsford 67 (also described in SU 13 NW 106) is visible as a cropmark of a circular mound with a diameter of 18m.
Wilsford 68 (also described in SU 13 NW 107) is visible as a cropmark of a circular mound with a diameter of 18m, this is surrounded by a ditch and then a broad bank giving the barrow an overall diameter of 28.5m.
Wilsford 69 (also described in SU 13 NW 110) is visible as a cropmark of mound surrounded by a broad ring ditch, with a diameter of 24m, surrounded by a bank resulting in a barrow with an overall diameter of 35m.
Wilsford 70 (also described in SU 13 NW 111) is visible as a broad ring ditch with an internal and external bank and has an overall diameter of 64m.
Wilsford 71 (also described in SU 13 NW 112) is visible as a broad ring ditch with an internal and external bank and has an overall diameter of over 78m.
Wilsford 72 (also described in SU 13 NW 113) is visible as a mound, surrounded by a broad ditch with an outer bank and has an overall diameter of 57m.
Wilsford 73 (also described in SU 13 NW 114) is visible as a mound surrounded by a ring ditch and has an overall diameter of 12m.
It is possible the complex form of some of the barrows indicates that they were each constructed in more than one phase.
Ten of the barrows are situated in a small wood (SU 13 NW 98-105, 108, 115), i.e. those described by the previous authorities as Wilsford 58-68, and therefore were not visible on the photographs. Another of the barrows (SU 13 NW 115), outside the wood, has been ploughed level but is not visible on aerial photographs.
The barrow cemetery is situated on an east-facing slope between 90m and 103m above OD. The barrows have a roughly east-west alignment but do not have a neat linear arrangement. A round barrow (described in SU 13 NW 33) could be an outlier and is situated 140m to the south of the group. The Lake Down barrow cemetery is also situated 400m to the south of this barrow cemetery.
See individual monument records for specific details about each barrow. (10-12)
The Wilsford Barrows were surveyed at 1:1000 scale in Spring 2010 as part of the EH Stonehenge WHS Landscape Project; see also individual barrow records. (13)
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