Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow situated on sloping ground on a spur
projecting from a ridge of the Kent Downs.
The barrow has a flat-topped, west-east orientated, oval mound measuring 29m
by 24.5m. The mound is large, rising to a height of 3.7m on the downslope
side. Minor signs of disturbance to the centre of the mound probably result
from partial excavation in the late 18th century. The mound is surrounded by a
ditch from which material used to construct the barrow was excavated. This has
become infilled over the years, but survives as a buried feature c.3m wide.

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.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

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 partial disturbance caused by antiquarian excavation, the action of
tree roots and rabbit burrowing, the bowl barrow 200m south west of Little
Watersend survives well and contains archaeological remains and environmental
evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was
constructed. This is the largest recorded round barrow in Kent.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Hasted, E, History of Kent, (1799), 37

Source: Historic England