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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(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 -

(`B') No 2. To the south of No 1. A round Barrow 60ft in diameter and c.6ft high from the ditch on the north side. There is slight evidence of a surrounding ditch. (`C') No 3. Marked on the OS map as being slightly west of No 2, but owing to bombardment all trace has now disappeared. (3)

Four bowl barrows: `B' 18.5 in diameter, 1.0m high. In poor condition. `C' 9.5m N-S by 10.5m E-W, 0.4m high. In very poor condition. Much damaged by gunnery practice. (5)

A small cemetery of four barrows on top of Tolsford Hill.(6) Round Barrows, in Brockman's Bushes 1.75 miles north west of St Nicholas' Church, Newington. The south barrow 60ft in diameter and 6ft high, with traces of the surrounding ditch visible on the north (`B'). (7) 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 pair of closely-spaced burial mounds or barrows, each with an encircling ditch. The more easterly of the two mounds is 17m in diameter and survives to a height of 1.4m. On the east side of the mound is a hollow area 2.5m across which is the most easily visible segment of the surrounding ditch which continues around the entire mound. Some 20m west of the eastern example are the disturbed remains of the second barrow. The mound of this western example has been damaged by mortar-fire when the hill crest was used for live firing. The surviving upstanding area is some 10m by 7m in size and stands to a height of around 1m. This represents about one-third of the original extent of the barrow mound. The ditch surrounding the mound, however, survives to a much greater extent, although its course is difficult to trace owing to the undulations caused by the mortar rounds. The overall diameter of the monument is 56m by 21m.

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.

Although the monument has been disturbed in the course of military training, both barrows are considered to retain significant archaeological potential. They also form part of a cluster of similar monuments on Tolsford Hill which together show 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.

<5> F2 ASP 01-DEC-1969 (OS Card Reference). SKE43069.

<6> Arch Cant 74 1960 56 (P Ashbee, G C Dunning) (OS Card Reference). SKE35577.

<7> Bldgs of Eng NE & E Kent 1980 401 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37748.

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

<9> Field report for monument TR 13 NE 3 - December, 1969 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5325.

Sources and further reading