Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Bowl barrow

Monument Types

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

Full description

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[TR 21295079] Tumulus [NR] (1) A bowl barrow with faint traces of a ditch. It has been partially ploughed down but is in fair condition and is some 34.0m in diameter and 1.0m in height. Resurveyed at 1/2500. See TR 25 SW 11. (2) Scheduled Monument No. 12810 (3).

From the National Heritage List for England:

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 spreading of the Upper Digges Farm barrow in the course of agricultural activities, the monument retains significant archaeological potential in that the original ground surface below the mound and the burials which were placed in pits below ground level are likely to survive undisturbed by ploughing, as is the surrounding ditch. These locations will hold evidence of the manner and duration of use of the monument as well as of the environment in which it was constructed.

History
Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details
The monument includes a Bronze Age barrow which comprises an earthen mound and an encircling ditch. The mound survives as a low, circular rise, up to 1m high and 32m in diameter, in an arable field. It is clearly visible as a dark soil mark in the chalk-rich field. Of the surrounding ditch nothing is visible and it is likely that the mound, which was formerly considerably higher, has been spread over the ditch in the course of agricultural activity, disguising it completely. (4-5)

<1> OS 25" 1956 (OS Card Reference). SKE48271.

<2> F1 ASP 02.MAR.65 (OS Card Reference). SKE41888.

<3> Field report for monument TR 25 SW 7 - March, 1965 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5779.

<4> English Heritage SAMs 26-3-91 (OS Card Reference). SKE41629.

<5> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

Sources and further reading