Saucer Barrow in Warren Wood

Reasons for Designation

Saucer barrows are funerary monuments of the Early Bronze Age, most examples dating to between 1800 and l200 BC. They occur either in isolation or in barrow cemeteries (closely-spaced groups of round barrows). They were constructed as a circular area of level ground defined by a bank and internal ditch and largely occupied by a single low, squat mound covering one or more burials, usually in a pit. The burials, either inhumations or cremations, are sometimes accompanied by pottery vessels, tools and personal ornaments. Saucer barrows are one of the rarest recognised forms of round barrow, with about 60 known examples nationally, most of which are in Wessex. The presence of grave goods within the barrows provides important evidence for chronological and cultural links amongst prehistoric communities over a wide area of southern England as well as providing an insight into their beliefs and social organisation. As a rare and fragile form of round barrow, all identified saucer barrows would normally be considered to be of national importance.

The example in Warren Wood survives well and is an outlier to the main concentration of such monuments, being the only one known in Kent.

Details

The monument includes a saucer barrow which comprises a low central mound with an encircling ditch which is in turn surrounded by a low bank of earth. The central mound measures 18m in diameter and stands to 0.7m above the level of the surrounding ground at its summit. The ditch that defines the mound measures some 4m across and drops to only 0.3m below the ground level, having been largely infilled by erosion from the mound and the outer bank. It was earth from this ditch which was used to build both the central low mound and the surrounding bank. Beyond the ditch is the outer bank, 2m across and only 0.2m high. The overall diameter of the monument is therefore some 30m.

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:

12821

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
TR04 NE26, TR04 NE26,

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.