Two bowl barrows 70m south of Buckland Road: part of Reigate Heath round barrow cemetery

Reasons for Designation

Round barrow cemeteries date to the Bronze Age (c.2000-700 BC). They comprise closely-spaced groups of up to 30 round barrows - rubble or earthen mounds covering single or multiple burials. Most cemeteries developed over a considerable period of time, often many centuries, and in some cases acted as a focus for burials as late as the early medieval period. They exhibit considerable diversity of burial rite, plan and form, frequently including several different types of round barrow, occasionally associated with earlier long barrows. Where large scale investigation has been undertaken around them, contemporary or later "flat" burials between the barrow mounds have often been revealed. Round barrow cemeteries occur across most of lowland Britain, with a marked concentration in Wessex. In some cases, they are clustered around other important contemporary monuments such as henges. Often occupying prominent locations, they are a major historic element in the modern landscape, whilst their diversity and their longevity as a monument type provide important information on the variety of beliefs and social organisation amongst early prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period and a substantial proportion of surviving or partly-surviving examples are considered worthy of protection.

Despite the possibility of partial excavation, the two bowl barrows 70m south of Buckland Road survive well and contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes two bowl barrows aligned east-west and situated on the Lower Greensand; they are part of a group of seven barrows forming a dispersed linear round barrow cemetery aligned north-west to south-east on Reigate Heath. The eastern barrow is the largest of the two and has a mound 30m in diameter and 2.4m high. Surrounding the mound is a ditch from which material was quarried during the construction of the monument. This has become partially infilled over the years and is now only visible around the northern edge of the mound where it survives as an earthwork 3m wide and 0.2m deep. The rest of the ditch survives as a buried feature. The western barrow has a mound 25m in diameter and 2m high. This too is surrounded by a quarry ditch which is now completely infilled and survives as a buried feature c.3m wide. A space of 12m separates the two barrows. These could be two of the four barrows on Reigate Heath partially excavated in 1809 before the planting of pine trees. In two of the mounds burnt bones were found and in the largest barrow a circular hole 0.5m in diameter and 0.4m deep containing ashes and charred wood was discovered cut into the natural rock beneath the mound. Excluded from the scheduling is a wooden seat on the eastern mound, although the ground beneath it is included.

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:

20162

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Grinsell, L V, Surrey Archaeological Collections in Surrey Barrows 1934-1987: A Reappraisal, (1987)
Grinsell, L V, Surrey Archaeological Collections in Surrey Barrows 1934-1987: A Reappraisal, (1987)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.