More information : ['A' - SU 8528 4078] Tumulus [GT]
['B' - SU 8533 4066] 'C' - SU 85334063 & 'D' SU 8533 4061] Tumuli [GT] (1)
Four bowl barrows. Diameters from 42 to 75 ft and heights from
four to eight ft. Visited 1932 (2)
Scheduled. (3)
Many other tumuli round the Great Pond[8440]have been
destroyed. (4)
The group stands on a ridge on Frensham Cmn.
'A' at SU 8532040795 is oval some 25.0m. E-W by 20.0m.
transversely and up to 1.6m. in height.
'B' at SU 8534340666 is a bowl barrow some 30.0m. in overall
diameter and up to 2.1m. in height.
'C' at SU 8533940637 is a bowl barrow 15.0m in diameter,
mutilated on the E. side and up to 0.7m. in height.
'D' at SU 8533940622 is a bowl barrow 20.0m. in overall
diameter but mutilated on the E. side and up to 0.7m in
height.
The group is in poor condition, but fragments of ditch remaining
around the barrows 'B' and 'D' suggests that the group 'B', 'C'
and 'D' was originally surrounded by an enclosure ditch.
Group revised at 1/2500.
No other barrows were seen in the vicinity. (5)
The barrow group on Frensham Common were surveyed by the RCHME in August 1996 at the request of Surrey Archaeological Society. In total four barrows were recorded, along with the slight remains of more recent activity. The burial mounds have been placed in a dispersed linear arrangement on the western edge of a narrow ridge of Folkestone Sands at 90mOD, which divides and overlooks both the Frensham Great and Little Ponds. The barrows are poorly preserved and have witnessed continued degredation over a number of years. The lettering of the barrows conforms to the previous report.
Barrow A (SU8530 4079). This flat topped bowl barrow 1.6m in height, is 22.5m in diameter at its base and 12.5m wide at the summit. No surrounding ditch can be seen, though there is a slight berm 0.2m high encircling all but the southern arc; this may be the truncated remains of a ditch. The barrow is partially enclosed on the western and southern sides by a slight bank 0.7m wide surviving to a height of 0.3m where best preserved. Elsewhere, the mound has seen heavy erosion and significant scarring is evidemnt on its summit.
Barrow B (SU8534 4066). Flat topped bowl barrow 2.3m high which is 25m in diameter at its base and 16m wide at the summit. A slight break in the slope of the mound 1m above ditch bottom, may relate either to constructional detail, such as a heightening of the mound, or later activity. A flat-bottomed ditch, up to 3m wide and 0.4m deep is present on the western sector, and a smaller shallower stretch survives to the east of the modern track on the northern rim of the mound. The western ditch is particularly wide and it is likely to have been enlarged at some stage in the recent past. A well defined causeway across the ditch leads via a marked gouge to the barrow top and it seems plausible that the barrow may have hosted unspecified military activity during WW2. Small fragments of brick and cement of this date were found during the course of the survey.
The ditch is flanked externally by a small length of bank, 1m wide and 0.2m high, on the north-western arc. Other segments of damage can be seen and result from recent traffic across the mound.
Barrow C and D (SU8534 4063, SU8534 4062). The two remaining barrows of this group, which are the smallest, are also confluent. Barrow C is a small bowl barrow 1.2m high which is 17m wide at its base and narrows to a width of 9m on the summit. There are traces of a shallow flat-bottomed ditch 1m wide and 0.2m deep around the south-eastern arc of the mound. The barrow is separated from the larger example to the north by a distance of 5m, a space which has been used as a trackway during this century. Thwe track survives as a hollow way, some 1.5m deep and up to 4m wide, cut into the western scarp slope of the sandy ridge. At least two other minor ditched tracks diverge at right angles from this; that to the north feeds into the ditch of barrow (C) whilst to the south, the ditch, accompanoied by a slight external bank 1m wide and 0.2m high, flanks the western edge of mound (D).
The southernmost barrow of this group (D), consists now of a heavily damaged circular mound 1.6m high, 17.5m in diameter at its base with a flattened top 9m wide. Its summit has been punctured by a large circular crater, 4m wide and 0.1m deep which is perhaps the remnants of an antiquarian excavation. A well preserved round bottomed ditch can be seen on all but the northern sides and where best defined survives to a depth of 0.3m and a width of 3m.
Survey seems to suggest that the ditch of the northern individual overlies that of its southern neighbour. The line of the ditch would also impinge upon the mound of (D), thus explaining the indented nature of the mound. Unfortunately damage at their confluence has destroyed any conclusive evidence as to their chronological relationship. (6)
Aerial photographs of 2011 show that trackways lead across the centre of the barrows. Their bare earth appearance suggsts that they are still in use and may contribute to the degradation of the barrows. (11)
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