Ancient Monuments

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Bowl barrow, the westernmost of six in West Wood

A Scheduled Monument in Stowting, Kent

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.1468 / 51°8'48"N

Longitude: 1.0516 / 1°3'5"E

OS Eastings: 613531.716233

OS Northings: 143043.73358

OS Grid: TR135430

Mapcode National: GBR TZS.2P0

Mapcode Global: VHLH6.5FSQ

Entry Name: Bowl barrow, the westernmost of six in West Wood

Scheduled Date: 15 January 1975

Last Amended: 4 January 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1017618

English Heritage Legacy ID: 12813

County: Kent

Civil Parish: Stowting

Traditional County: Kent

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Kent

Details

This example is the westernmost of the group in West Wood. The monument
includes a barrow which comprises an earthen mound and an encircling
ditch. The mound measures some 18m across, although it has been
truncated in the course of arboricultural activities, particularly on
the eastern side. It survives to a maximum height of 1.7m.
The ditch is visible only as a slight depression some 2m across. It lies
at a distance of between 3-7m from the present foot of the mound owing
to the removal of some of the mound material, but would originally have
bordered the foot of the mound. It was dug to provide the material with
which to construct the mound.
The mound and ditch together have a diameter of 21m.

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.' Their ubiquity and their tendency to occupy
prominent locations makes them 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 organisation 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 loss of part of the westernmost barrow in West Wood through
silvicultural activities, It still retains significant archaeological
potential. It is also one of a group of similar monuments which
illustrate the importance of the area for burial in the Bronze Age.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Spurrell, F, 'Arch Journal' in Arch Journal, , Vol. 40, (1883), 292
Other
Darvill, T, MPP Single Monument Class Descriptions - Bowl Barrows (1988), (1988)

Source: Historic England

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