Hlaew in Juniper Wood

Reasons for Designation

A hlaew is a burial monument of Anglo-Saxon or Viking date and comprising a hemispherical mound of earth and redeposited bedrock constructed over a primary burial or burials. These were usually inhumations, buried in a grave cut into the subsoil beneath the mound, but cremations placed on the old ground surface beneath the mound have also been found. Hlaews may occur in pairs or in small groups; a few have accompanying flat graves. Constructed during the pagan Saxon and Viking periods for individuals of high rank, they served as visible and ostentatious markers of their social position. Some were associated with territorial claims and appear to have been specifically located to mark boundaries. They often contain objects which give information on the range of technological skill and trading contacts of the period. Only between 50 and 60 hlaews have been positively identified in England. As a rare monument class all positively identified examples are considered worthy of preservation.

Despite some disturbance by tree growth, the hlaew in Juniper Wood survives well and has been shown by partial excavation to contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a hlaew, or early medieval burial mound, situated on a spur projecting from a ridge of the Kent Downs, overlooking the valley of the Great Stour River. The hlaew has a circular, bowl-shaped mound 12.5m in diameter and c.2m high, with a central hollow, the result of partial excavation in 1939. The mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material used to construct the hlaew was excavated. This has become infilled over the years, and survives as a buried feature c.2m wide. The partial excavation of the monument revealed that the mound had been constructed above a roughly rectangular grave measuring 2.74m by 1.22m, which had been dug to a depth of 0.76m into the underlying chalk bedrock. The grave was found to contain the surviving fragments of a subsequently disturbed, extended human burial.

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:

25465

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Ackroyd, L, Bellhouse, R, Jessup, R, Archaeologia Cantiana in A Round Barrow on Wye Downs, Vol. 51, (1939), 215-217

End of official list entry

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