Four ring ditches on ridge of Sutton Hill

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1004204
Date first listed:: 05-Oct-1979

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1004204
Date first listed:: 05-Oct-1979

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Kent
District:: Dover (District Authority)
Parish:: Sutton
National Grid Reference:: TR 33307 49946

Summary

Ring ditches 494m ENE of White Gables.

Reasons for Designation

The ring ditches are thought to be the buried remains of prehistoric round barrows. Round barrows 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 mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often acted as a focus of burials in later periods. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable variation in form and longevity as a monument type provide important information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisations amongst early prehistoric communities.

History

See Details.

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 3 September 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes ring ditches surviving as buried remains. It is situated on the summit of Sutton Hill and overlooks Sutton to the south. The features have been recorded as crop and soil marks on aerial photographs. Two single ring ditches measure approximately 12m and 18m in diameter. The larger one includes possible internal features. There are also two double ring ditches both 33.5m in diameter. One has a single entrance in the outer ring and the other includes a possible causeway in the buried ditch. The ring ditches are thought to be the buried remains of prehistoric round barrows. The Kent Mapping Project carried out in 1986-7 by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) also indicated the probable existence of a ovoid ditched enclosure on the site.

Further archaeological remains survive in the vicinity of this site but are not included because they have not been formally assessed.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: KE 263
Legacy System:: RSM - OCN

Sources

Other
Kent HER TR34NW16. NMR TR34NW16. PastScape 467522,

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.