Bowl barrow in Ashenbank Wood south of Cobham Park reservoir

Overview

Location

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.

Despite the limited damage caused to the Ashenbank Wood monument by partial excavation in 1895, the barrow is considered to retain considerable potential because the majority of the mound, the underlying ground surface, the burials placed on or below the ground surface and the surrounding ditch all survive. These locations hold evidence of the nature and duration of the use of the barrow and of the environment in which it was constructed. The barrow is an outlier to the main concentration of such monuments in Kent and so demonstrates the differing degree of use of burial mounds across the region for the disposal and commemoration of the dead in the Bronze Age.

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow which comprises an earthen mound encircled by a quarry ditch. The mound of the barrow measures 22m in diameter and stands to a height of 1.8m above the ground level. The surrounding ditch is no longer visible, having been infilled by soil eroded from the mound. This barrow mound was partially excavated in 1895, at which time fragments of prehistoric pottery and charcoal were found, but the primary burial was not disturbed because a tree growing on the mound restricted digging activities. The diameter of the mound and ditch together is 26m.

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:

12838

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Darvill, T, MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Bowl Barrows (1988), (1988)
Ref TQ66 NE,

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.