Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The monument includes a bowl barrow which comprises an earthen mound encircled by a now-infilled quarry ditch. The mound measures 26m across and still stands to 0.8m in height. It has been spread by agricultural activities, infilling the surrounding ditch in the process. As a result, the ditch is no longer visible on the surface. It is, however, still visible when viewed from the air because of differential crop growth.

Monument Types

• BOWL BARROW (Late Neolithic to Late Bronze Age - 3000 BC to 701 BC)

Full description

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From the National Heritage List for England

Details
The monument includes a bowl barrow which comprises an earthen mound encircled by a now-infilled quarry ditch. The mound measures 26m across and still stands to 0.8m in height. It has been spread by agricultural activities, infilling the surrounding ditch in the process. As a result, the ditch is no longer visible on the surface. It is, however, still visible when viewed from the air because of differential crop growth.

Reasons for Designation
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.

Although the barrow has been spread by agricultural activity, it survives sufficiently well to ensure the preservation of the old ground surface beneath it and any burials placed on or below ground level. The monument therefore retains significant archaeological potential for evidence of the nature and duration of its use and of the environment in which it was constructed. (1)

Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

<1> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

Sources and further reading