Scheduled Monument: HLAEW IN JUNIPER WOOD (1011764)

Authority
Date assigned 06 June 1995
Date last amended

Description

From the National Heritage List for England: The monument includes a hlaew, or early medieval burial mound, situated on a spur projecting from a ridge of the Kent Downs, overlooking the valley of the Great Stour River. The hlaew has a circular, bowl-shaped mound 12.5m in diameter and c.2m high, with a central hollow, the result of partial excavation in 1939. The mound is surrounded by a ditch from which material used to construct the hlaew was excavated. This has become infilled over the years, and survives as a buried feature c.2m wide. The partial excavation of the monument revealed that the mound had been constructed above a roughly rectangular grave measuring 2.74m by 1.22m, which had been dug to a depth of 0.76m into the underlying chalk bedrock. The grave was found to contain the surviving fragments of a subsequently disturbed, extended human burial Reasons for Designation A hlaew is a burial monument of Anglo-Saxon or Viking date and comprising a hemispherical mound of earth and redeposited bedrock constructed over a primary burial or burials. These were usually inhumations, buried in a grave cut into the subsoil beneath the mound, but cremations placed on the old ground surface beneath the mound have also been found. Hlaews may occur in pairs or in small groups; a few have accompanying flat graves. Constructed during the pagan Saxon and Viking periods for individuals of high rank, they served as visible and ostentatious markers of their social position. Some were associated with territorial claims and appear to have been specifically located to mark boundaries. They often contain objects which give information on the range of technological skill and trading contacts of the period. Only between 50 and 60 hlaews have been positively identified in England. As a rare monument class all positively identified examples are considered worthy of preservation. Despite some disturbance by tree growth, the hlaew in Juniper Wood survives well and has been shown by partial excavation to contain archaeological remains and environmental evidence relating to the monument and the landscape in which it was constructed.

External Links (0)

Sources (1)

  • Scheduling record: English Heritage. Register of Scheduled Monuments.

Map

Location

Grid reference Centred TR 0692 4702 (21m by 20m)
Map sheet TR04NE
County KENT
District ASHFORD, KENT
Civil Parish WYE WITH HINXHILL, ASHFORD, KENT

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Record last edited

Oct 13 2011 1:19PM