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Context Reading: The South Downs
Fro
m
The
Suss
ex
Cou
nty
Mag
azin
e
1931
T
h
e
B
ar
ro
ws of the South Downs
By L V Grinsell
When a great chief of the Stone or Bronze Age died, it was the custom for his relatives and
followers to erect over his body a mound of earth or flints, so that people of future generations
coming near it should exclaim, "Great is this tumulus! Of a truth a mighty hero lies buried here."
The rambler who walks over the South Downs – or indeed any downs – will see considerable
numbers of these tumuli still existing, some three or four thousand years after they were
constructed; and one writer even suggested that the tumuli "bid fair to last as long as the earth
itself."
On the South Downs alone there are not far short of 1,000 tumuli and they are, in fact, more
common than almost any other kind of prehistoric earthwork in downland. They exist within a
radius of three or four miles of every important Sussex town from Chichester to Eastbourne, but
they are most abundant on the ridge of the Downs, and especially on the hills overlooking the
Ouse and Cuckmere.
A barrow is a mound raised over the interment of a human being. If the mound is constructed
mostly or entirely of flints it is called a cairn. The words "barrow" and "tumulas" are generally used
to mean the same thing, but strictly speaking the word "barrow" should be used only when
referring to mounds which have been opened and proved to contain human remains. The word
"tumulas" means a mound of any kind – whether sepulchral or not, and consequently it is a useful
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term for describing circular, or nearly circular, mounds which are probably barrows although their
identity has not been proved by the spade.
Tumuli are nearly always situated on the tops of hills, sometimes on the higher slopes thereof, but
very rarely in valleys.
The earliest barrows appear to have been the long barrows, most of which were probably built
before 1800 BCE by Neolithic people. A typical Sussex example is that illustrated near Up
Marden, and a few hundred yards north-east of the village of Compton, in the extreme west of
Sussex. This mound is situated on the south side of Long Lane, near Fernbeds Farm, and is over
200 feet long and 5 or 6 feet in height. It is in an excellent state of preservation. In most long
barrows in the south-eastern counties, the sides are flanked by ditches, but the ditches are
scarcely visible in the Compton long mound. It is, however, most probably the burial-place of a
Neolithic chief, and is perhaps older than the tomb of Tut-ankh-amen. It was already some 2,000
years old when Julius Caesar landed in this country.
There are two very fine long barrows between Firle Beacon and Alfriston, and a third is situated
slightly west of Firle Beacon. A barrow hereabouts is supposed to be a haunt of habitation of the
giant of Firle Beacon, but whether the honoured barrow is the long one to the west of the Beacon,
or the round one on top thereof, is a matter for conjecture.
Other probable long barrows exist on Stoughton Down near Bow Hill, at Deans near Piddinghoe
and on Windover and Wilmington Hills. A gorse-covered exists on the Downs near Litlington, and
a very dilapidated and somewhat doubtful example exists about 300 yards north of the windmill
on Beacon Hill, Rottingdean. A good example, known as "The Camel’s Humps," or "The Warrior’s
Grave," exists on Cliffe Hill near Lewes.
In the Bronze Age nearly all the barrows were circular, and although most of them are shaped like
an inverted bowl, a number of scarce and interesting varieties are met with in certain areas.
There is a very fine bell-barrow on Bow Hill (near Stoughton, north of Chichester). Only a dozen
bell-barrows are known in Sussex, and four of those are on Bow Hill. Two of these are in the form
of a twin-barrow, surrounded by an oval ditch. Bell-barrows differ from bowl-barrows in having a
platform of fairly level or slightly slanting ground between the mound and the ditch. The type is
frequent near Stonehenge, and one example near that celebrated monument yielded a fragment
of Stonehenge "Bluestone," proving that the barrow was not earlier than Stonehenge.
At this point the article shows a drawing of the barrows on Bow Hill. It shows two mounds a gap
and two more mounds.
The plate gives a view of the Bow Hill "King’s Graves" as seen from Stoke Down. The two
barrows on the left are "bells" - those on the right are "bowls," but of course they all look the same
from the distance.
They then show a drawing of the "bowls" which are small mounds with a dent in the top, a little bit
like a miniature extinct volcano.
The Bow Hill barrows were probably already of hoary antiquity and the objects of sightseers when
the Celtic tribes were living in the Trundle Camp, two or three miles to the east, about 200 B.C.
On Monkton Down, near Treyford (north of Chichester) is a row of six bell-barrows similar to
those on Bow Hill but the Monkton Down examples are not so prominently situated as those on
Bow Hill and are largely hidden by trees.
Another scarce type of tumulus is the "platform" barrow, a very fine example is situated between
Lewes and the Racecourse. It is nearly 100 feet in diameter and about 3 feet high. Outside the
ditch are traces of an outer ringwork. It has a flat top which is, of course, the fundamental
characteristic of every "platform" tumulus. Similar examples exist on Sullington and Cocking Hills.
Another type of platform-tumulus, much lower than the three examples just mentioned, is
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normally anout 20 yards in diameter and between 6 inches and 1 foot high, and frequently exists
in groups of two or three. a Row of three of them is situated outside Chanctonbury Ring and three
more arranged in a triangle are on the northern slope of Church Hill, Findon. Two well-preserved
smallish examples, with intersecting ditches, are inside Ranscombe Camp and two more, also
with interesting ditches, are on Offham Hill, near Lewes. A third example also exists on Offham
Hill a few yards away from the intersecting ones. Two platform tumuli on Glynde Hill have the flat
top bounded by a ringwork, outside which is the ditch.
A scarce form of tumulus is the so-called ring-mound, consisting of a circular ring of earth
enclosing a level interior area which varies in diameter from about 6 to 60 yards. When these
ringworks have one or more small mounds in the centre, they are called "disc-barrows," but
barrows of this type have not yet been recorded from Sussex, though one or two very doubtful
examples have been claimed to belong to this type.
Several ring-mounds without the central hump exists on the South Downs, notably on Harrow Hill,
Cock Hill near Blackpatch, and Tegdown, near Patcham. The Harrow Hill ring-work has the ditch
outside the rampart, but the other two examples have the ditch inside which is the more frequent
position in this class of tumulus.
On Amberley Mount and Alfriston Golf Course are two ring-mounds of a most unusual type. They
consist of a very low circular mound of earth surrounding an area which is below the level of the
surrounding downland. No ditch is visible in either of these examples (though it does not follow
that no ditch exists), but it appears possible that these ring-mounds were made from soil scraped
from the interior areas.
The common "bowl" barrow sometimes assumes large proportions and appears very impressive
whether examined closely or seen from a distance. A short distance south-west of Firle Beacon is
a hill on which are situated three very large barrows, one of which has been mostly destroyed, but
the other two of which are very conspicuous and comparatively well-preserved. These latter,
which are known as "The Lords’ Burghs," are among the most impressive earthworks in
Downland. On top of Windover Hill and just above "The Long Man" is another very fine and large
ditched "bowl" barrow. The observant enthusiast may note that the ditch is interrupted at one or
two places – a feature which is not uncommon in barrows of certain areas, several other large
bowl-barrows may be seen on Willingdon Hill, near Eastbourne and good examples do, in fact,
exist in most parts of the Downs.
http://www.webjam.com/sussextales/barrows_of_the_south_downs