Bowl barrow on Beaconsfield golf course, known as `The Mount'

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.

The bowl barrow on Beaconsfield golf course is very well preserved. The mound stands close to its original height and there is no evidence that it has ever been excavated. Funerary remains will survive intact within and below the mound enabling valuable insights into early burial practices and the beliefs of the community which constructed the monument. The former ground surface which lies buried beneath the mound will, together with environmental evidence from the surrounding ditch, provide information about the character of the landscape in which it was constructed.

Details

The monument includes a Bronze Age bowl barrow situated in the southern part of the Beaconsfield golf course, to the south of the railway line between Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross and about 1km to the west of the club house. The barrow mound is circular with a conical profile, measuring c.2.5m in height and c.22m in diameter. At a height of c.1m there is a slight change in the angle of the slope suggesting a berm. The position of the ditch, from which material for the barrow was quarried, is indicated by a minor undulation surrounding the foot of the mound which averages 2m in width and 0.2m deep. The barrow is prominently placed and, in the absence of the recent woodland and the nearby railway embankment, would have been visible both from Long Bottom Valley to the north and from the lower ground to the south. The barrow is apparently unexcavated, although several barbed and tanged flint arrowheads have been found in the surrounding area (at Wapseys Wood, Jordans and Beaconsfield) which indicate contemporary activity.

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:

27128

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Page, W, The Victoria History of the County of Buckinghamshire, (), 157
Birch, C, The Book of Beaconsfield, (1980), 14-18
Holgate, R, The Archaeology of the Chilterns in The First Chiltern Farmers, (1994), 45

Other
Title: Ordnance Survey Record Card: SU 99 SE 9 Source Date: Author: Publisher: Surveyor: Filed with SMR 0162
info from Secretery & Green-keeper, Anderson, P I & Paterson, W, Wilton Park, (1995)
RCHM, Inventory of Monuments in Buckinghamshire, Inventory of the Monuments of Buckinghamshire,

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.