Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

Site of circa 30 barrows containing Anglo-Saxon and possibly Roman and Bronze Age internments. Probable Bronze Age barrow cemetery reused for secondary burials. Excavated in 1775 and 1782, the round barrow located at Bay Hill may be the only survivor. Finds included glass beads, an iron arrowhead (Bronze Age proto-type) and an early inhumation.

Monument Types

• ROUND BARROW (ROUND BARROW, Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• BARROW CEMETERY (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• BURIAL (BURIAL, Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)

Associated Finds

• HUMAN REMAINS (Undated)
• ARROWHEAD (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• BEAD (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

Of a group of about 30 barrows situated on the cliff 0.5 miles from the village of St. Margaret's at Cliffe, Douglas opened about 14 in 1782. The only relic was an iron knife, the graves were generally east-west. In 1775, 6 or 8 had been opened "and yielded upwards of twenty glass beads, and a socketed arrow-head, presumably of iron, but suggesting a prototype of the Bronze period. Indeed, one large barrow contained the bones of a young subject and must be referred to the earlier period, this being the primary interment. The other graves "probably belonged to the Christian period, but whether that period began during the Roman occupation or only in the 7th century remains at present uncertain". (1)(2) No barrows were seen during fieldwork in this area. It is possible that the round barrow at Bay Hill (TR 34 SE 2) is the last surviving one of the group. (3)

See also TR 34 SE 2

Pre-1724: Stukeley noted 2 clusters of c.30 barrows on a slope around a large BA barrow, c. 350m S of St Margaret's Church & covering c.1.5 acres. A further barrow lies c. 25m beyond the SW end of the main group. Part destroyed by road.
1775: 6-8 barrows opened - 20 glass beads in 1 grave, arrowhead in another.
1782: c.14 barrows opened - Fe knife. Also BA? cremation. 1911: an aged male skull was found during excavations by Pearsons and Sons Contractors. It was dated at the time to between the 6th and 8th C on osteological grounds.

Additional bibliography (4-6)

<1> Nen Brit 1793, 119-21 (J Douglas) (OS Card Reference). SKE47525.

<2> V C H Kent 1, 1908, 363 (R A Smith) (OS Card Reference). SKE50712.

<3> F1 ASP 19.05.64 (OS Card Reference). SKE42175.

<4> Field report for monument TR 34 SE 6 - May, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5945.

<5> Audrey Meaney, 1964, Gazetteer of Early Anglo Saxon Burial Sites (Monograph). SKE32125.

<6> Helen Geake, 1997, The use of grave-goods in conversion-period England, c.600-c.850 (Monograph). SKE54254.

Sources and further reading

Related records