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Monument details

HER Number:TR 13 NE 235
Type of record:Monument
Name:Bowl barrow 250m west of Brockman's Bushes plantation on Tolsford Hill

Summary

Bowl barrow.


Grid Reference:TR 1603 3831
Map Sheet:TR13NE
Parish:NEWINGTON, SHEPWAY, KENT

Monument Types

  • BOWL BARROW (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
Protected Status:Scheduled Monument 1012275: BOWL BARROW 250M WEST OF BROCKMAN'S BUSHES PLANTATION ON TOLSFORD HILL

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 -

(`D') No 4. Near the scarp of the hill. A Round Barrow 40ft in diameter and 10ft high with a much broken crown. It is itted with rabbit holes where a gash has been made in the top by war activity. (3) Four bowl barrows: `D' 17.5m in diameter, 2.5m high. Top mutilated: poor condition. Published 25" surveys revised. (4) No change. (5) A small cemetery of four barrows on top of Tolsford Hill.

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 a Bronze Age barrow which comprises an earthen mound 17m in diameter and over 3m high at the summit, as well as a circular ditch some 5m in maximum width. The mound is steeply-sided and has a depression in the top which marks the position of an old excavation trench. No records of these excavations have survived. A similar depression in the western side of the mound has resulted from the more recent digging of a fox-hole during military training. The surrounding ditch is most easily visible on the southern and western sides. Here it takes the form of a depression up to 0.4m deep and some 5m from inner to outer edge. The ditch provided the earth for the construction of the mound. The mound and the ditch have an overall diameter of 27m.

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.

The monument near Brockman's Bushes survives to a greater extent than many in the region. In spite of the limited disturbance to the mound caused by small-scale partial excavation and damage during military training, the monument retains its archaeological potential since only a small part of the whole mound has been affected. It is also part of a cluster of similar monuments on Tolsford Hill which demonstrate the importance of the locality for burial in the Bronze Age.


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.

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

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
---Unpublished document: RPS Clouston. 1994. Folkestone & Dover Water services: Bluehouse to Cherry Garden Trunk Main.
<1>OS Card Reference: OS 6" 1961.
<2>OS Card Reference: Archaeol Journ 40 1883 292 (F C J Spurrell).
<3>OS Card Reference: Archaeol Cant 63 1950 150 (H F Bing).
<4>OS Card Reference: F1 ASP 26-APR-1963.
<8>Bibliographic reference: Field report for monument TR 13 NE 3 - April, 1963.