| Summary : A Bronze Age bell barrow survives as earthworks. It has been recorded as part of the Normanton Down (Centre) barrow group (Monument Number 219537) and forms part of the Normanton Down round barrow cemetery (Monument Number 1531088). The round barrow was excavated in the early 19th century by Sir Richard Colt Hoare (Barrow 156), who found a primary cremation deposit accompanied by a variety of grave goods, including: a gold and bronze pen-annular ring; a gold-bound amber disc; a sheet gold button cover; a bone pendant with sheet gold cover; a pottery accessory vessel; a halberd pendant of bronze and gold; and 9 amber pendants of various shapes. The round barrow was listed as Wilsford 8 by Goddard and subsequently by Grinsell. It was surveyed at a scale of 1:1000 in April 2010 as part of English Heritage's Stonehenge WHS Landscape Project. The surviving earthworks have an overall diameter of 42m and comprise a central mound which sits on a circular platform surrounded by a ring ditch. The mound stands 3.2m high: its oval top measures a maximum of 10.5m in diameter and its base is 24m. A berm, maximum of 2m wide, separates the mound from the ring ditch, which measures 0.6m deep and circa 8m wide. A causeway crosses the ditch in the north-west. There is no sign of any outer bank. The monument has been damaged by the placement of modern fences and associated grazing animals. |
More information : `F' - SU 11814132; Wilsford 8, a bell barrow with an overall diameter of 135ft. Wessex grave 71. (1) Excavations by Colt Hoare (Barrow 155) located a primary cremation with an incense cup, a gold covered shale cone, a gold covered horned object, two gold covered amber discs, a halberd pendant in amber with a gold handle, a gold covered bone disc and amber pendants. (2) Finds in Devizes Museum (DM 1059-67) (3)
Wilsford 8, a bell barrow. Resurveyed at 1:2500. (4)
Originally recorded as Wilsford 8 by Goddard. (5)
The barrow is visible as an earthwork on aerial photographs, and has been mapped by both RCHME's Salisbury Plain Training Area NMP and EH's Stonehenge WHS Mapping Project. (12-13)
The Bronze Age bell barrow referred to above (1-13) was surveyed at a scale of 1:1000 in April 2010 as part of English Heritage's Stonehenge WHS Landscape Project. It has been recorded as part of the Normanton Down (Centre) barrow group (Monument Number 219537) and forms part of the Normanton Down round barrow cemetery (Monument Number 1531088). The surviving earthworks have an overall diameter of 42m and comprise a central mound which sits on a circular platform surrounded by a ring ditch. The mound stands 3.2m high: its oval top measures a maximum of 10.5m in diameter and its base is 24m. A berm, maximum of 2m wide, separates the mound from the ring ditch, which measures 0.6m deep and circa 8m wide. A causeway crosses the ditch in the north-west. There is no sign of any outer bank. The monument has been damaged by the placement of modern fences and associated grazing animals. (14) |