TQ 76 SW 22 - Site of Neolithic chambered tomb, Blue Bell Hill, Burham

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Monument record TQ 76 SW 22 - Site of Neolithic chambered tomb, Blue Bell Hill, Burham

Summary

Groups of sarsen stones lie in several places on the lower slopes of Blue Bell Hill, spreading across to Westfield Wood. Previously thought to be the remains of avenues and circles, they have no known prehistoric associations. They may be in their natural geological positions and, if in groups, could be the results of farmers clearing fields. In the nineteenth century Thomas Wright thought several of the scattered stones were coverings or entrances to burial chambers. In 1844 excavations around some of the stones showed that one was laid across the mouth of a round pit cut in the chalk and filled with flints. According to local residents at the time, pits filled with flints were common in the area. The flints were often used as road metal when a new road was made. The Blue Bell Hill Dolmen is shown on a sketch in Maidstone Museum with the following measurements. North stone 7ft x 1ft 1in x 4ft 9ins (2.25m x .32m x 1.45m) South stone 7ft x 2ft 3ins x 5ft 9ins (2.13m x .68m x 1.74m) West stone 3ft x 4ft x 1ft 6ins ( 0.91m x 1.22m x .45m) Centre stone 1ft x 2ft (.30m x .61m) A skeleton of a man and fragments of red pottery were reportedly found but no records were kept.

Location

Grid reference	TQ 74 61 (point) LO
Map sheet	TQ76SW
County	KENT
District	TONBRIDGE AND MALLING, KENT
Civil Parish	BURHAM, TONBRIDGE AND MALLING, KENT

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Type and Period (3)

Full Description

The Blue Bell Hill Dolmen, Kent, destroyed. A sketch in the Maidstone Museum gives these measurements: N stone 7.5 feet x 1 foot 1 inch x 4 feet 9 inches.S stone 7.0 feet x 2 feet 3 inches x5 feet 9 inches. W stone 3.0 feet x 4 feet x 1 foot6 inches. Centre stone 1.0 feet x 2 feet. Burial place, originally in a barrow. A skeleton of a man and fragments of red pottery were found, but no record seems to have been kept. On either side of the ancient way which runs through the wood onBlue Bell Hill are a vast number of sarsens, seemingly the remains of avenues and circles. Bensted's map, however, gives them as all naturalor scattered boulders. (1) Description of the megaliths on Blue Bell Hill. Site plan. (2) Several sarsens were seen on the edge of Warren Road in the vicinity of TQ 748 611 but none approaching the size of the largest noted by Authority 1. No further particular information but see TQ 76 SW 32 forgeneral information on the sarsens of this district. (3) Blue Bell Hill cTQ 75 61. Groups of sarsens lie in several places around the lower slopes of Blue Bell Hill, spreading across to Westfield Wood. None of these have known prehistoric associations. Thesarsens may be in their natural geological positions, and where gathered in a group merely represent the efforts of a local farmer toclear his fields. (4-6) Stones of Blue Bell Hill. Several scattered stones considered by the late Mr Thomas Wright to be the coverings or entrances to sepulchral chambers. It was found that each group of stones was surrounded by a small circle of stones, and excavations carried out in 1844 showed that one of these stones was laid across what was apparently the mouthof a round pit cut in the chalk and filled with flints. According to the reports of the inhabitants of the district many similar pits had been found on the hill in former times, and generally one or two largestones were found on the pit's mouth. Enormous numbers of flints were found in the pits, and many of them were utilized as road metal when anew road was made. (7,8)

<1> Woolwich Dist Ant Soc An Rep Vol 13 1907 p.84 (F C Elliston Erwood) (OS Card Reference). SKE51401.

<2> Rochester Naturalist Vol 6 1928 p.73-90 (Site plan) (OS Card Reference). SKE49315.

<3> F1 CFW 30-JUN-59 (OS Card Reference). SKE42836.

<4> Arch Cant 97 1981 234 (R Holgate) (OS Card Reference). SKE36282.

<5> Arch Cant 63 1950 68-9 (J H Evans) (OS Card Reference). SKE35363.

<6> S E England 1970 102 (R Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE49355.

<7> VCH 1 1908 319 (OS Card Reference). SKE50790.

<8> Arch J 1 1844 264 (T Wright) (OS Card Reference). SKE36517.

<9> Field report for monument TQ 76 SW 22 - June, 1959 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4180.

Sources/Archives (9)

<1> SKE51401 OS Card Reference: Woolwich Dist Ant Soc An Rep Vol 13 1907 p.84 (F C Elliston Erwood).
<2> SKE49315 OS Card Reference: Rochester Naturalist Vol 6 1928 p.73-90 (Site plan).
<3> SKE42836 OS Card Reference: F1 CFW 30-JUN-59.
<4> SKE36282 OS Card Reference: Arch Cant 97 1981 234 (R Holgate).
<5>XY SKE35363 OS Card Reference: Arch Cant 63 1950 68-9 (J H Evans). [Mapped feature: #24310 tomb, ]
<6> SKE49355 OS Card Reference: S E England 1970 102 (R Jessup).
<7> SKE50790 OS Card Reference: VCH 1 1908 319.
<8> SKE36517 OS Card Reference: Arch J 1 1844 264 (T Wright).
<9> SKE4180 Bibliographic reference: Field report for monument TQ 76 SW 22 - June, 1959.