Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Round barrow

Monument Types

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

Full description

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`Pits and tumuli' in Westwood, Lyminge. For the Pits see TR 14 SW 19) (1)

(TR 136430) Group of six round barrows in West Wood. Scheduled. (2)

TR 139424. 287/e. Diameter 17yds., height 3ft. (a). Barely recognisable as a barrow. Very low (b).(3)

From the National Heritage List for England:

Details:

The southernmost of the six similar examples in West Wood, the monument includes a bowl barrow which comprises an earthen mound and an encircling ditch. The mound is relatively low, surviving to a height of only 0.4m, and measures some 16m in diameter. The surrounding ditch has been completely infilled by erosion of the mound and is not visible on the ground surface. The mound and ditch together have a diameter of 20m.

The site of the monument is indicated on the attached `Scheduled Monument' map extract outlined in black and highlighted in red. Although limitations of map depictions and scale may indicate that sites adjoin, they are in fact spatially separate.

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. Their ubiquity and their tendency to occupy prominent locations makes them 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 organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of protection. Although this southernmost example in West Wood has been spread during sylvicultural activities, it still retains considerable archaeological potential because several areas such as the original ground surface below the mound or the infilled ditches are likely to survive undisturbed. These areas hold evidence of the manner and duration of use of the monument and of the environment in which it was created. This example is also one of a cluster of similar monuments in the locality which demonstrate the importance of the area for burials in the Bronze Age.



Survey undertaken by Nicola Bannister in 2004 found the barrow to be recorded in the wrong location. Previously incorrectly located at TQ 13859 42672. Correct location at TQ 13837 42767. The barrow was surveyed as being slightly eliptical in shape, c.17m N-S by c.13m E-W, with a probable silted ditch extending c.2m beyond. The mound currently stands c.1.25m high. The eastern side has been truncated by vehicles. (4)

<1> Arch J 40 1883 292 (F C J Spurrell) (OS Card Reference). SKE36629.

<2> DOE (IAM) AMs Eng 2 1978 109 (OS Card Reference). SKE40685.

<3> AM 7 D Sherlock 1972 (OS Card Reference). SKE33004.

<4> Nicola Bannister, 2004, West Wood, Nr Lyminge, Round Barrows: Archaeological Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE15651.

Sources and further reading