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 13634341 `C': Bowl barrow 20.0m average diameter and 1.3m in height. Tree covered, slightly mutilated by slip and trenches, fair condition (2).

(TR 136430) Group of six round barrows in West Wood. Scheduled. (3)

TR 136434. 287/a (listed by Authy 2 as barrow `C'). Large barrow approx. 6.5m diameter and 1.5m high (c).

(TR 13634341) Tumulus (NR) (TR 13524304; TR 13654303) Tumuli (NR) (4)

From the National Heritage List for England:

Details:

This is the northernmost of the six similar examples in West Wood. The monument includes a barrow which comprises an earthen mound and an encircling ditch. The mound measures some 20m in diameter and stands to a maximum height of 1.4m. The surrounding ditch has been completely infilled by material eroded from the mound and is no longer visible on the surface, but it would originally have provided the earth with which the mound was constructed. The wire-mesh fence over the northern side of the mound is excluded from the scheduling. The mound and ditch together have a diameter of 30m.

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.

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

<2> F1 CFW 23.04.63 (OS Card Reference). SKE42713.

<3> DOE (IAM) AMs Eng 2 1978 109 (OS Card Reference). SKE40685.

<4> AM 107 K Chant 27.6.84 (OS Card Reference). SKE33001.

Sources and further reading