Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

One of two large bowl barrows lying on either side of the Canterbury road at Swingfield Minnis, on level ground at a height of 480ft OD. This barrow [TR 21244233] lies in a ploughed field and is 23.0m in diameter and 1.0m in height. There is no visible ditch.

Monument Types

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

Full description

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One oftwo large bowl barrows lying on either side of the Canterbury road at Swingfield Minnis, on level ground at a height of 480ft OD.This barrow' [TR 21244233] lies in a ploughed field and is 23.0m in diameter and 1.0m in height. There is no visible ditch. Surveyed at 1:2500. (1) (TR 21324245) Tumulus (NR) (TR 21244233) Tumulus (NR) (2)

From the National Heritage List for England:

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on a ridge of the Kent Downs. The barrow has a roughly circular mound 23m in diameter and 0.75m high, surrounded by a ditch from which material used to construct the barrow was excavated. The ditch, which has been partially damaged on its south eastern side by the construction of the A260 road, has become infilled over the years, and survives as a buried feature c.2m wide. The modern road surface, and the modern fence which crosses the monument, are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included.
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.

Despite some disturbance by modern ploughing and the construction of the A260 road, the bowl barrow 150m north east of Red House Farm survives comparatively well and contains archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. Around 140m to the north east is a further bowl barrow of broadly contemporary date, which is the subject of a separate scheduling. The close association of these monuments provides evidence for the importance of this area for funerary practices during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. (6)

<1> F Jenkins FSA Corr (OS Card Reference). SKE41721.

<2> F1 FGA 08-MAY-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE42903.

<3> OS 1:10000 1977 (OS Card Reference). SKE48162.

<4> Field report for monument TR 24 SW 3 - May, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5706.

<5> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1991, A260 Hawkinge to Denton By-Pass: Initial Archaeological Field Survey (Unpublished document). SKE17210.

<6> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

Sources and further reading