Bowl barrow at Otford Mount
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Scheduled Monument
- List Entry Number:
- 1007986
- Date first listed:
- 16-Mar-1994
Map
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Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Kent
- District:
- Sevenoaks (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Otford
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 53843 59666
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 bowl barrow at Otford Mount survives well and contains both archaeological
remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape
in which it was constructed.
Details
The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on the crest of a ridge facing
south-west in an area of undulating chalk downland. The barrow has a mound
20m in diameter and 1m high surrounded by a ditch from which material was
quarried during the construction of the monument. Having become partially
infilled over the years, the ditch is now only visible as a slight depression
to the south-west of the mound; the remainder survives as a buried feature
c.3m wide. The barrow was recorded as 'Stumleburgh' in a land grant of 1289.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 23017
- Legacy System:
- RSM
Sources
Other
TQ 55 NW 5, (1964)
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 Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official listing
