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| HER Number: | TR 15 SE 2 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
| Name: | Saxon barrow cemetery, Hanging Hill, Bourne Park, Bridge |
In 1771 there were thought to be over 100 tumuli on Hanging Hill, in front of and between Bourne Place, Bishopsbourne, and the Roman road. There were previously more but they were ploughed away. Three of the mounds were opened in the mid 19th century and were found to be Saxon. Today only a few of the mounds survive due to further ploughing action. These are all thought to be in poor condition. The site remains legally protected due to its importance.
The site lies to the south-east of the Dover-Canterbury Roman road.
| Grid Reference: | TR 1868 5363 |
|---|---|
| Map Sheet: | TR15SE |
| Parish: | BISHOPSBOURNE, CANTERBURY, KENT |
| BRIDGE, CANTERBURY, KENT |
| Protected Status: | Scheduled Monument 1021421: Anglo-Saxon cemetery on Hanging Hill, Bridge, immediately south west of Watling Street |
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[TR 18685368] Tumuli [NR]. (1) Faussett in 1771 mentions over 100 tumuli on Hanging Hill, in front of and between Bourne Place, Bishopsbourne, and the Roman road (some parallel to the road); others had been ploughed down. Wright (3) opened three and found them to be Saxon. Scheduled. (2-5) This gravemound cluster is partly in woodland and partly under the plough; only eleven mounds survive and these, in general, are in a poor condition. Published 25" survey revised. (6) Additional bibliography. (7-9)
Between 2003 and 2006 the Kent Archaeological Field School carried out a series of investigations in the area. Numerous graves were exposed and a small number excavated. Additional features found included a ring ditch around a burial with associated post holes, a four-post structure around a cremation burial and distinct clustering of burials in rows and groups. Possibly early cremation burials contained pottery produced in the 5th century. Later burials contained sceattas of the late 7th century, 64 coins in total. (10)
From the National Heritage List for England:
Details:
The monument includes an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, as well as Late Iron Age cremations, pits and post holes and a large hexagonal feature of unknown date. It occupies a prominent position on Hanging Hill, formed by the curving end of a ridge of the Kent Downs, and lies beside and to the south of the course of Watling Street, the Roman Road connecting Dover and Canterbury. To the south west and north west the land falls away sharply to the valley through which runs the Nail Bourne. The greater part of the monument lies within a field under pasture, but also includes a strip of woodland beside the road. The ring ditches of several burial mounds are visible as crop marks on aerial photographs, and several others survive as mounds within the woodland. However, excavations carried out in 2005 and 2006 to the south west of the burial mounds revealed that the cemetery extends to the west, well beyond the original scheduled area, and indicate that the mounds were probably the focal point of a larger cemetery consisting mainly of flat inhumations. In 2006 over 60 inhumations were uncovered in an area measuring about 10m x 50m, running east to west from the constraint line of the original scheduling: with a few exceptions, all had an approximate east-west orientation, and in some cases the burials appeared to be grouped in rows. Only one, towards the east end of the trench, and therefore closest to the known burial mounds, had a definite ring ditch around it, measuring 4m in diameter; although there are two other possible ring ditches on either side of this at a distance of about 3m and 5m respectively. In 2005, immediately to the south west of the 2006 trench, eleven burials were excavated, all with their heads towards the west. All contained artefacts, including glass and amber beads, buckles and two spear heads, as well as a gold pendant, a small green glass bowl and a fine wheel thrown decorated pot. Between sixty and seventy silver coins were also found, datable to between 675 and 750 AD. These place the burials in the century following St Augustine's mission to England of 597 AD to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Amongst the inhumations uncovered in the 2006 excavation were pits and post holes dated to the Iron Age, as well as Late Iron Age cremations. Freshly knapped Neolithic flints were found in the layer of topsoil immediately above the chalk. Aerial photographs also show two parallel linear ditch features, about 110m apart running south west from and almost at right angles to the Roman road. Immediately to the west of the 2005 and 2006 excavations, and partially uncovered by them, is a large hexagonal structure, which until at least 1946 survived as an earthwork and can be seen on an aerial photograph of that date. It measures about 27m in diameter, and has an internal bank and external ditch about 80cm wide. Its date and purpose are uncertain and it is included because of its proximity to the burial mounds. There is a similar hexagonal structure, which can also be seen on an aerial photograph, about 370m to the south east: this second hexagon is not included in the scheduling. The inclusion of one is justifiable, given the proximity to the burial mounds and its relationship with them. However, given our uncertain understanding of their date and function these structures are not justifiably included on their own merits. The cemetery was first described (but not excavated) by the Reverend Bryan Faussett in 1771, who counted over 100 burial mounds on Hanging Hill, where it rises from Bourne House and Bishopsbourne to the Roman road. Altogether, Faussett recorded and excavated about 300 mounds beside Watling Street alone, where his most notable find was the Kingston Brooch, found in 1771 in a woman's grave on the Kingston Downs to the south west of Bridge. It seems that the mounds on Hanging Hill were ploughed down during and shortly after World War II. All fences, posts and boundary markers are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground around and beneath them is included.
Reasons for Designation:
Beginning in the fifth century AD, there is evidence from distinctive burials and cemeteries, new settlements, and new forms of pottery and metalwork, of the immigration into Britain of settlers from northern Europe, bringing with them new religious beliefs. The Roman towns appear to have gone into rapid decline and the old rural settlement pattern to have been disrupted. Although some Roman settlements and cemeteries continued in use, the native Britons rapidly adopted many of the cultural practices of the new settlers and it soon becomes difficult to distinguish them in the archaeological record. So-called Anglo-Saxon cemeteries are dated to the early Anglo-Saxon period, from the fifth to the seventh centuries AD. With the conversion to Christianity during the late sixth and seventh centuries AD, these pagan cemeteries appear to have been abandoned in favour of new sites, some of which have continued in use up to the present day. Burial practices included both inhumation and cremation. Anglo-Saxon inhumation cemeteries consist predominantly of inhumation burials which were placed in rectangular pits in the ground, occasionally within coffins. The bodies were normally accompanied by a range of grave goods, including jewellery and weaponry. The cemeteries vary in size, the largest containing several hundred burials. Around 1000 inhumation cemeteries have been recorded in England. They represent one of our principal sources of archaeological evidence about the Early Anglo-Saxon period, providing information on population, social structure and ideology. All surviving examples, other than those which have been heavily disturbed, are considered worthy of protection.
Although the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Hanging Hill was ploughed in the mid-C20, both flat inhumations and those originally under mounds survive intact. The ring ditches of the burial mounds also survive. Those graves which have been excavated contained well preserved skeletons accompanied by grave goods and personal ornaments, demonstrating that the burials will provide information on diet and health, as well as on ritual, beliefs and social structure at a significant point of transition in Anglo-Saxon society. The unusual hexagonal structure may contain artefacts and evidence for its date and function. Its relationship with the burials and with Iron Age features and Late Iron Age cremations will also provide a relative date, and will illuminate the history of occupation on Hanging Hill. (11)
Andrew Richardson, 2000, Gazetteer of Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries and Burial-Sites in Kent (Unpublished document). SKE29253.
<1> OS 25" 1956 (OS Card Reference). SKE48271.
<2> Invent Sept 1856 99 (B Faussett) (OS Card Reference). SKE44493.
<3> Arch J 1 1845 253-6 (T Wright) (OS Card Reference). SKE36520.
<4> VCH Kent 1908 344-5 (RA Smith) (OS Card Reference). SKE50928.
<5> Gaz of Early AS Burial Sites 1964 110 (Audrey Meaney) (OS Card Reference). SKE43525.
<6> F1 FGA 26.01.65 (OS Card Reference). SKE42979.
<7> JBAA 12 1856 103 (OS Card Reference). SKE44865.
<8> Arch J 1 1844 253-56 (Wright) (OS Card Reference). SKE36516.
<9> Field report for monument TR 15 SE 2 - January, 1965 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5470.
<10> Kent Archaeological Field School, 2008, The archaeological investigation of a hexagonal feature at Star Hill, Bridge, near Canterbury, Kent 2003-6 (Unpublished document). SKE17738.
<11> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.
| Cross-ref. | Source description |
|---|---|
| --- | Unpublished document: Andrew Richardson. 2000. Gazetteer of Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries and Burial-Sites in Kent. |
| <1> | OS Card Reference: OS 25" 1956. |
| <2> | OS Card Reference: Invent Sept 1856 99 (B Faussett). |
| <3> | OS Card Reference: Arch J 1 1845 253-6 (T Wright). |
| <4> | OS Card Reference: VCH Kent 1908 344-5 (RA Smith). |
| <5> | OS Card Reference: Gaz of Early AS Burial Sites 1964 110 (Audrey Meaney). |
| <6> | OS Card Reference: F1 FGA 26.01.65. |
| <7> | OS Card Reference: JBAA 12 1856 103. |
| <8> | OS Card Reference: Arch J 1 1844 253-56 (Wright). |
| <9> | Bibliographic reference: Field report for monument TR 15 SE 2 - January, 1965. |
| <10> | Unpublished document: Kent Archaeological Field School. 2008. The archaeological investigation of a hexagonal feature at Star Hill, Bridge, near Canterbury, Kent 2003-6. |
| <11>XY | Scheduling record: English Heritage. Register of Scheduled Monuments. [Mapped feature: #769 Cemetery, ] |