Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Bowl barrow in the garden of The Mount, Penshurst Park. Field investigations in 1962 found it to have a diameter of 20 metres and a height of 1.6 metres.

Monument Types

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

Full description

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TQ 52594518: Circular mound in the grounds of The Mount. (1) This is an artificial circular mound of sandy soil with some chert, diam 20.0m, height 1.6m, apparently undisturbed, except superficially by gardening on the west side. It is a mereing on the Penhurst-Leigh parish boundary. and its siting, dimensions and appearance all point to its being a bowl barrow. Published 1/2500 survey correct. (2)

from the Heritage List for England:
The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on the crest of a rise in an area of sand overlooking the valley of the River Medway. The barrow has a mound 20m in diameter and 2.7m high with a slight hollow in the top suggesting that it was once partially excavated. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This is no longer visible at ground level, having become infilled over the years, and now survives as a buried feature c.3m wide.

Excluded from the scheduling are the pond and all fencing, although the ground beneath these features is included.

ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE
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 evidence for partial excavation, the bowl barrow 25m east of The Mount survives comparatively well and contains archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed. (4)

<1> OS 6" Prov Edn 1961 (OS Card Reference). SKE48393.

<2> F1 ASP 21-DEC-62 (OS Card Reference). SKE42218.

<3> Field report for monument TQ 54 NW 7 - December, 1962 (Bibliographic reference). SKE2724.

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

Sources and further reading