Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

one of four Bowl barrows within the area.

Monument Types

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

Full description

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(A - TR 15953863) Tumulus (NR) (B - TR 15913834) (C - TR 15893834) (D - TR 16033831) Tumulus (NR) (1) On the southern edge of Tolsford Hill stand three tumuli or "mounts"; these consist of stones without clay for the cores, the clay being placed above all. Another tumulus stands 300 or 400 yards back to the north of the others. An adjacent depression shows where the soil for the mound was derived from. (2) Tumuli at Brockman's Bushes, near Hythe - (`A') No 1. A Round Barrow 40ft in diameter and 6ft high with a slight depression in its crown, and traces of a surrounding ditch.

(3) Four bowl barrows: `A' 17.0m in diameter 1.1m high. Traces of a ditch on the north side. In fairly good condition.

(4) No change. (5) A small cemetery of four barrows on top of Tolsford Hill. (6) Round Barrows, in Brockman's Bushes 1.75 miles north west of St Nicholas' Church, Newington. The north barrow is 40ft in diameterand 6ft high (`A'),(7)

Revised Scheduled Monument numbers as follows: A = 12806 B = 12807 C = 12807 D = 12808 (8)

From the National Heritage List for England:

Details:

The monument includes the mound and encircling ditch of a barrow or burial mound which dates from the Bronze Age. The mound measures some 7m in diameter and stands to a height of 1.6m above the level of the ground. There is a trace of the surrounding ditch in the form of a slight hollow area some 2m across, most easily visible on the western side. Agricultural activity has truncated the barrow mound so that a gap of 2m exists between the barrow mound and its ditch. The overall diameter of the monument is therefore judged to be 25m. The surface of the mound shows evidence of small-scale partial excavation but no records survive to describe the nature of any finds. The barrow mound is marked on the eastern and western sides by star-shaped signs, which are excluded from the scheduling.

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.

Despite the limited damage to the monument near the Tolsford mast caused by small-scale partial excavation and by agricultural activity, the monument retains considerable archaeological potential through the survival of much of the barrow mound, the original ground surface below the mound and the lower parts of the surrounding ditch, evidence from all of which can contribute to an understanding of the date, manner and duration of use of the monument and of the environment in which it was constructed. This monument is also one of a small cluster of barrows on Tolsford Hill which point to the importance of the locality in the Bronze Age.

RPS Clouston, 1994, Folkestone & Dover Water services: Bluehouse to Cherry Garden Trunk Main (Unpublished document). SKE6910.

RPS Clouston, 1994, Folkestone & Dover Water services: Bluehouse to Cherry Garden Trunk Main (Unpublished document). SKe6910.

<1> OS 6" 1961 (OS Card Reference). SKE48369.

<2> Archaeol Journ 40 1883 292 (F C J Spurrell) (OS Card Reference). SKE37281.

<3> Archaeol Cant 63 1950 150 (H F Bing) (OS Card Reference). SKE37234.

<4> F1 ASP 26-APR-1963 (OS Card Reference). SKE42301.

<5> F2 ASP 01-DEC-1969 (OS Card Reference). SKE43069.

<6> Arch Cant 74 1960 56 (P Ashbee, G C Dunning) (OS Card Reference). SKE35577.

<7> Bldgs of Eng NE & E Kent 1980 401 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37748.

<8> Field report for monument TR 13 NE 3 - April, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5324.

<9> Field report for monument TR 13 NE 3 - December, 1969 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5325.

<10> English Heritage Amended Schedule Entry 12 Apr 1991 (OS Card Reference). SKE41613.

Sources and further reading