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.

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.

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.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Birch, C, The Book of Beaconsfield, (1980), 14-18
Page, W , The Victoria History of the County of Buckinghamshire157
Holgate, R, 'The Archaeology of the Chilterns' in The First Chiltern Farmers, (1994), 45
Other
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,
Title: Ordnance Survey Record Card: SU 99 SE 9
Source Date:
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
Filed with SMR 0162

Source: Historic England