Image credit: tjj
Images
Plan showing the Bronze Age barrows by the pond/lake and Cricket Ground on Petersfield Heath
Image credit: tjj
Image credit: tjj
Assumed ‘pillow mound’...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
This earthwork lies at the eastern end of the heath just north of the path from Heath Farm to the pond. There is no mention of a long barrow upon Pastscape... and the preservation is too good to be true... so I took this to be a pillow mound? If I’m wrong, excellent.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Another of the 21.... this west(ish) of the cricket pitch.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Some of these barrows are not exactly vertically challenged.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
I think this one is upon the north-western arc of the cricket boundary... but might be mistaken since I had lost all sense of perspective at this point. It happens.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Extreme north-eastern barrow.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Massive monument in extreme north-eastern corner of the heath...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Immediately east of the Heath Pond, looking approx east.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Immediately east of the Heath Pond (just discernible bottom left), looking west(ish)
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
A further barrow south of what I took to be an elongated pillow mound...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Some iconic trees have made their home upon Petersfield Heath’s round barrows.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Approx western arc of the cricket boundary..
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Eastern barrow upon northern boundary.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Amazing place...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
There are further large barrows upon the far boundary... handy if the hard pressed home team want to call in additional metaphysical fielders.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Large round barrow near the cricket pavilion looking toward two more...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The eastern of the large round barrows upon the northern arc of the cricket pitch. Hey, even I wouldn’t mind watching the odd game from here...
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
A’top the round barrow east of the Nursery car park. The cricket pitch can be seen beyond... not an unusual occurrence. The enigmatic mounds circling the boundary are.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
The first barrow encountered heading approx. east from the Nursery car park... apparently there are 20 more.
Image credit: Robert Gladstone
Image credit: tjj
Image credit: Jimit Oct 2003
Squinting round the side of one of the barrows with the lake just visible in the background.
Image credit: Jimit Oct 2003
The little cricket pitch with at least six barrows on its boundary.
Image credit: Jimit Oct 2003
Image credit: Jimit Oct 2003
Image credit: Jimit Oct 2003
Image credit: Jimit Oct 2003
Image credit: Jimit Oct 2003
Articles
A four-year campaign to dig a 21-barrow set of graves, declared as a set of Scheduled Ancient Monuments and aligned in a style linked to Stonehenge, has begun at one of Britain’s largest and most intriguing mixed cemeteries.
Archaeologists hope to discover the origins of the cemetery on Petersfield Heath, where the early Bronze Age burial mounds are set in a style more typically associated with Wessex.
The style of the burial mounds is more commonly seen is Avebury, Stonehenge and Wessex.
The build, environmental impact, social implications and living conditions of the barrows will be examined in a series of dig seasons expected to begin in September.
Geophysical and topographic surveys, documentary research and palaeo-environmental studies will also take place under plans backed by a £100,000 Heritage Lottery Fund grant and a £20,000 investment from the South Downs National Park Authority.
Volunteers of all ages will be invited to take part in the excavations.
Visited 11.2.13
This is a super fab place to visit!
If you are ever in the vicinity of Petersfield (an attractive market town in its own right) make sure you visit the Heath and its many Barrows.
We arrived at Petersfield Heath and it was snowing hard – bit fluffy flakes.
The ducks didn’t seem too impressed – first time I have seen snow on a duck’s head!
We parked in the large car park and I did a circular walk to take in the Barrows around the lake. A handy free information leaflet issued by the ‘Friends of Petersfield Heath’ was available from one of those clear plastic boxes.
This gave a history of the heath (reporting 21 Barrows) and a handy map showing where the Barrows could be found.
Finding the Barrows turned out to be no trouble at all as most were large and hard to miss. Most were in very good condition with little sign of damage.
They ranged in height from about 1m to 3m and in diameter from about 3m to 15m.
Some were grass covered whilst others were covered by trees and bushes etc.
The only Barrow I saw which had clearly been dug into was the largest one near the lake. This Barrow unfortunately also had signs of fires being lit upon it – but this was certainly the exception to the Barrows sited here.
On a nice summers day this would be a cracking place for a picnic and to feed the ducks. Today it was also a great day to visit with the snow falling heavily.
There is something ‘special’ about visiting a site in the snow – must be the old romantic in me!
Before long I had to head back to the car and we drove past the Barrows nearest the cricket pitch. These again were very easy to spot and looked to be even larger than the ones around the lake. Unfortunately I didn’t have time for a closer look.
All in all, this is a great place to visit and one I would heartily recommend.
If I ever get the chance I will most certainly come back again – in particular to get a closer look at the Barrows near the cricket pitch.
Due to one of life’s quirky little detours I found myself in Petersfield today visiting family of a friend. A lovely afternoon so we walked around Petersfield Heath which, is spite of having a prosperous market town right next to it, still feels like a heath. Surprisingly there are several round barrows dotted about, some hidden among the trees. Not much to add to Jimit’s fieldnote except to say that the person showing us the barrows also told us that they were aligned to the midwinter sunset between the gap in the two westerly hills which can be seen from the nearby lake (formerly marshland). One of these, Butser Hill, being the highest hill in South Downs. It would be difficult to test this theory now as there the area is quite wooded – a treat though to have a little bit of prehistory come my way without any real effort on my behalf.
This is really quite a delightful site. Very close to the centre of the bustling market town of Petersfield, an area of sandy heath with a large lake. No better place to play the game of “Spot the barrow” as some stand proud, dominated by noble trees, others lurk shyly in light woodland and some seem to stand guard over the boundary of the little cricket pitch. One or two are difficult to distinguish as there are a few natural tiny hills in the area. To the SW,the dominant Butser Hill. A charming place to exercise the dogs/children, to do a bit of fishing and to search for a distant past.
Disabled: Excellent. Dedicated parking and flat access to the Millennium Walk which encircles the lake. Short cropped grass walks traverse the site with very gentle gradients.
A staggering 20+ bronze age barrows on this heath, and plenty of flint evidence for Mesolithic occupation too.
The 700 year old Taro fair takes place on the heath every October.
Topics
Sites within 20km of Petersfield Heath
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Torberry Hill
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Wyke Green Farm
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Butser Hill
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Lower Bordean Farm
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Ivyhouse Farm
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Warhill Cottage
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Bevis’s Thumb
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Salt Hill Long Barrow
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The Devil’s Jumps
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Hammer Wood
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Iping Common
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The Jumps
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West Meon
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Old Winchester Hill
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Stock’s Farm Long Barrow
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Goose Hill Camp
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Stoughton Down
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Stoughton Down
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Bow Hill Camp
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Brockwood Park
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Kingley Vale
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Kilmeston
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Heyshott Down
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Hinton Ampner Park
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Court Hill
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The Trundle
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Lamborough
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Cheriton Long Barrow
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Gallows Hill
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Cheriton Church Mound
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The Millbarrows
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The Devil’s Ditch
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Little Bury
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Lavington Common
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Waltham Down
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