Ancient Monuments

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Bowl barrow 50m north of Bowick Lodge east of Boyke Wood

A Scheduled Monument in Elham, Kent

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.1445 / 51°8'40"N

Longitude: 1.0859 / 1°5'9"E

OS Eastings: 615945.769049

OS Northings: 142892.115684

OS Grid: TR159428

Mapcode National: GBR TZT.5CY

Mapcode Global: VHLH6.RHYG

Entry Name: Bowl barrow 50m north of Bowick Lodge east of Boyke Wood

Scheduled Date: 16 January 1975

Last Amended: 6 February 1991

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1012115

English Heritage Legacy ID: 12824

County: Kent

Civil Parish: Elham

Traditional County: Kent

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Kent

Details

The monument includes a bowl barrow of Bronze Age date which comprises
an earthen mound and an encircling ditch. The mound measures 21m in
diameter and stands to an impressive 2.8m above the general ground
level. The surrounding ditch has been completely infilled by erosion
from the mound and is no longer visible on the surface. It would have
been dug originally to provide the earth for the construction of the
mound. The mound and the ditch together have a diameter of 25m.
The summit of the mound is marked by a shallow depression which
corroborates the records of a small-scale partial excavation by a
Captain North in the later 19th century, during which investigation
pieces of Bronze Age pottery and other unidentified bones and flint
flakes were found. On the southern side of the mound is a second small
infilled excavation trench which dates from the Second World War.

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 the disturbance to the mound caused by small-scale partial
excavation, the Bowick Lodge barrow still retains considerable
archaeological potential since much of the mound and the burials placed
within it, the old ground surface beneath it and the ditch around it all
survive undisturbed.
These areas will contain evidence of the manner and duration of use of
the monument as well as of the environment in which the barrow was
constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Darvill, T., MPP Single Monument Class Description - Bowl Barrows, (1988)
TR14 SE3,

Source: Historic England

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