Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A bowl barrow 21m in diameter and surviving to a height of 0.9m is located in woodland in the north of Crundale parish. There are no traces of a ditch around the barrow and the mound has been mutilated by trenching and small trees now grow upon it. Six other round barrows are located in Eggringe Wood to the north and many of these monuments are also scheduled.

Monument Types

• BOWL BARROW (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)

Full description

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A probable barrow, 80ft in diameter and 2ft 6ins high, situated at TR 09654980 in chestnut woodland belonging to the Forestry Commission. (1) A bowl barrow situated upon level ground at TR 09664979, having a diameter of 21.0m and a maximum height of 0.9m. There are no traces of a ditch. The mound has been mutilated by trenching and has small trees growing upon it. Surveyed at 1:2500. (2) [TR 096504] Six round barrows in Eggringe Wood. (3) Shown as Barrow "f". (For the other barrows scheduled in the group see TR 15 SE 21 and TR 15 SW 21). Scheduled. (4)

From the National Heritage List for England:

The monument, which lies on the southern margin of Eggringe Wood, includes a bowl barrow comprising an earthen mound encircled by a now-infilled quarry ditch. The mound in this case measures 21m in diameter and stands to 1.3m above the level of the surrounding ground. Of the surrounding ditch there is no visible sign, leaf litter and soil from the mound having filled the former hollow area. The diameter of the mound and ditch together is 25m.

Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar, although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

The southernmost barrow in Eggringe Wood is one of a group of six similar examples in the immediate locality. Such a concentration is unusual in Kent and together the barrows demonstrate the importance of the area for burials in the Bronze Age. (4)

<1> Letters (J Bradshaw 2/68 and 6/3/68) (OS Card Reference). SKE46124.

<2> F1 ASP 07-NOV-69 (OS Card Reference). SKE41988.

<3> Field report for monument TR 04 NE 25 - November, 1969 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5140.

<4> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

Sources and further reading