Bowl barrow 400m north-east of Buckholt Farm in Mounts Wood

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

Overview

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012143
Date first listed:: 16-Jan-1975

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1012143
Date first listed:: 16-Jan-1975
Date of most recent amendment:: 04-Jan-1991

Location

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

County:: Kent
District:: Canterbury (District Authority)
Parish:: Petham
National Grid Reference:: TR 10612 50437

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 disrurbance to the monument caused by small-scale partial excavation and by the roots of fallen trees, the monument retains significant archaeological potential because less than one-fifth of the mound has been affected and because the original ground surface and the entire ditch survive apparently undisturbed. These areas will hold evidence of the manner and duration of use of the monument and of the environment in which it was created

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow which comprises an earthen mound and an encircling ditch. The mound measures 21m in diameter and stands to a height of 1.6m. An old excavation trench 1m wide extends from the southern margin of the mound towards the centre. The surrounding ditch has been infilled completely by erosion from the mound and by leaf litter so that it is no longer visible on the surface. It was dug originally to provide the earth for the mound. The mound and ditch together have a diameter of approximately 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:: 12819
Legacy System:: RSM

Sources

Other
Darvill, T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)
SMR No. TR 15 SW 18,

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.