<< Our Photo Pages >> Farthing Downs - Barrow Cemetery in England in Greater London

Submitted by Andy B on Wednesday, 25 March 2020  Page Views: 22149

Multi-periodSite Name: Farthing Downs Alternative Name: Farthing Down
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 1.252 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Greater London Type: Barrow Cemetery
Nearest Town: Reigate  Nearest Village: Coulsden
Map Ref: TQ300578
Latitude: 51.304483N  Longitude: 0.136482W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 2 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 4

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Farthing Downs
Farthing Downs submitted by Andy B : A couple look over towards Canary Wharf and the view of London. The map shows four Anglo-Saxon barrows here. The most visible barrow is just to their right. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Anglo-Saxon barrow bemetery and Iron Age Enclosure in the London Borough of Croydon. Photo: A couple look over towards Canary Wharf and the view of London. The map shows four Anglo-Saxon barrows here. The most visible barrow is just to their right. This site could really use an information board!

The best map of the down, showing the prehistoric features is here - unfortunately I only found this on my return home, but it confirmed that I found the three groups of barrows - I think. The barrows and main earthwork is also shown on the 1:25000 OS map.

Along its length, the banks of a late Iron Age/early Roman enclosure system, with a central droveway, still survive as earthworks and two discrete Anglo-Saxon barrow cemeteries lie in the centre and to north of the site.

Note: If you are well and not isolating, now is a perfect opportunity to explore the ancient sites in your local area as part of your allowable daily exercise. Don't travel to Cornwall, the Peak District or the Highlands - unless you already live there of course! Even the most uninspiring looking lumps and bumps have a story to tell. Click here for our map of ancient sites around you (requires location access)
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Farthing Downs
Farthing Downs submitted by Andy B : This is the centre of the downs near the highest point. The map calls this tree 'The Folly' for some reason. Could that be an elusive Iron Age field boundary - not according to the map - it seems I'm starting to imagine them! (Vote or comment on this photo)

Farthing Downs
Farthing Downs submitted by Andy B : Lots of uneven lumps and bumps around here -. This is - I think - the northerly group of four Anglo-Saxon barrows shown on the map. From what I can gather the main Iron Age earthwork runs along the wide green path to the right but I struggled to see it or any of the other field boundaries. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Farthing Downs
Farthing Downs submitted by Andy B : This is the clearest barrow - easyish to spot by the main path. The map shows four Anglo-Saxon barrows here. It is surrounded by Iron Age field boundaries but I struggled to see them. Canary Wharf is visible in the background. These barrows could really use an information board! (Vote or comment on this photo)

Farthing Downs
Farthing Downs submitted by Andy B : Here be Iron Age field system boundaries - apparently. I really struggled to see any of them. No information boards to be seen. From what I can tell from the map the main Iron Age earthwork runs along this wide green track - the droveway. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Farthing Downs
Farthing Downs submitted by Andy B : This engraving is on top of the 'cairn' shown on the map. 147m above sea level.

Farthing Downs
Farthing Downs submitted by Andy B : This is - I think - one of the two central group of Anglo-Saxon shown on the map. It is circular and has a depression in the top. It's right by the road. I could only spot one barrow here. I really struggled to see any of the Iron Age field boundaries.

Farthing Downs
Farthing Downs submitted by Andy B : Another view of the most southerly of the Anglo-Saxon barrows, shown on its own on the map. It is circular and has a depression in the top. Not easy to spot unless you have some experience identifying earthworks.

Farthing Downs
Farthing Downs submitted by Andy B : This is - I think - the most southerly of the Anglo-Saxon barrows, shown on its own on the map. It is circular and has a depression in the top. Not easy to spot unless you have some experience identifying earthworks.

Farthing Downs
Farthing Downs submitted by Andy B : There are several information boards near the car park. This is the prehistory one. Unfortunately it is at the opposite end of the downs to where the barrows are. The main barrow group could really do with their own board.

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"Farthing Downs" | Login/Create an Account | 6 News and Comments
  
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Re: Farthing Downs by Anonymous on Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Coulsdon not Coulsdon.
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Iron age dig at Farthing Downs by Andy B on Wednesday, 25 March 2020
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July 2005 saw the first stage of an archaeological project on Farthing Downs, a steep sided chalk ridge that overlooks the modern settlement of Coulsdon.

The Anglo-Saxon archaeology of the Downs is relatively well known. All 16 of the barrows were excavated in 1871 by John Wickham Flower and again in the 1940s by Brian Hope-Taylor who discovered a number of burials around at least one of the barrow groups. Less well known is the earlier system of enclosures, dating for which is based largely upon a handful of features recorded by Hope-Taylor.

Unfortunately Hope-Taylor died before he was able to fully publish his work but using information from his notes we targeted a series of trenches across some of the earthworks.

Excavation of one of the enclosure boundaries showed that it had been constructed by scraping up loose chalk into a bank along a natural ridge. The eastern side of the droveway was constructed in a similar manner whilst along the western side a ditch had been dug and material cast up to form a more substantial bank. An unexpected discovery was the remains of cart ruts which ran along the alignment of the droveway.

The Anglo-Saxon barrows appear to have been built up in much the same way; a grave had been cut into a natural rise in the chalk and covered with a mound of loose chalk rubble which was then topped with turf. This rubble was probably taken from the earlier enclosure boundaries which are much lower in
the vicinity of the barrows.

In two of the barrows, the nineteenth century excavation trench was located and re-excavated in the hope of finding the human remains that Wickham Flower was thought to have re-interred. Although no complete skeletons were found some disarticulated bone was discovered in both trenches which will be used for radiocarbon dating.

The next stage is to produce a report of the excavations and publish an article on the Saxon burials. Once this has been done we will try and learn more about the enclosure system by using geophysics to see what lies beneath the ground. [I think this has now been done - I will see if I can find them - MegP Ed]

Source: Historical excavations on Farthing Downs by Amy Gray Jones & Barry Taylor. Amy Gray Jones works for the Museum of London Archaeology Service, Barry Taylor for English Heritage London Sites and Monuments Record.
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Re: Iron age dig at Farthing Downs by Andy B on Wednesday, 25 March 2020
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Map showing the earthworks and barrows:
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/city-commons/farthing-downs/Documents/Farthing-downs-map.pdf
(archive link - why do they keep moving these things!)

Summary from Friends of Farthing Downs and Happy Valley
http://www.friendsoffarthingdowns.co.uk/gpage17.html

http://www.friendsoffarthingdowns.co.uk/gpage6.html
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Re: Iron age dig at Farthing Downs by Andy B on Wednesday, 25 March 2020
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Croydon APA 1.3: Farthing Down
The Farthing Down Archaeological Priority Area covers the entirety of the Farthing Down Scheduled Monument and areas on its western and eastern sides. The North Downs have produced multiple prehistoric features and finds and was clearly an active prehistoric landscape. Farthing Down is no exception and finds dating from all prehistoric periods have been found in the APA.

Farthing Down is particularly noteworthy for the Iron Age/Romano British field system and Saxon burial grounds that are located there. The APA is classified as Tier 1 because it covers the site of a Scheduled Monument and adjacent archaeological remains directly associated with it.

Farthing Down is a flat topped ridge that projects from the North Downs with relatively steep slopes on its western, northern and eastern sides. Prehistoric finds include flints from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, pottery fragments dating from between the Bronze Age and Roman periods and a number of tools such as axes and a razor.

No trace of a prehistoric settlement has been found on Farthing Down but it is possible that some sort of settlement was located nearby. A path that is thought to have originally been a prehistoric trackway running from north to south along the top of the Down is closely followed by the modern road. The finds do suggest that some form of activity was taking place but it is not clear if the activity related to settlement or other activity alongside the trackway.

The chalk on Farthing Down is overlaid by a light free draining soil which would have made the area suitable for early agriculture. A field system has been identified along the summit of Farthing Down on either side of the trackway which is typical of the Romano-British period. Earth banks projecting from either side of the trackway created enclosures that were presumably used for farming and some of these banks are still identifiable. The large amount of pottery dating from between the 1st century BC and mid-2nd century AD has led to the conclusion that this was the period when the field system was in use. No contemporary settlement associated with the field system has been identified on Farthing Down but one may have been located nearby and it is possible that the fields were farmed by more than one community.

A number of Saxon burial mounds are located on Farthing Down in three distinct clusters from north to south along the trackway which are identified on modern maps as tumuli. The northernmost group of barrows is situated near the top of the northern slope of the Down and has the largest amount of barrows. Another smaller group of barrows is located approximately 400m to the south while two isolated barrows are located 350m further south.

Excavations during the 1870s examined 16 barrows while a survey in 1931 counted 14 identifiable barrows which varied in diameter between 3.7m and 12.2m and none were more than 0.6m high. However, a survey in 2011 found there to be a total of 15 visible barrows (nine in the northern group, four in the central group and two in the southern group). It is difficult to account for this discrepancy which makes it difficult to state precisely how many barrows there once were.

However, due to the relatively low height of the barrows it is possible that some were not noticed during earlier surveys or the intrusions of previous excavations may have made them less visible within the landscape. A number of excavations have taken place since the 18th century and all the barrows appear to have been investigated at some point. Little is known about the first excavation that took place in the 18th century but it appears that one or two of the barrows were opened and the skeletal remains were removed. A far more thorough excavation took place in the 1870s.

During this excavation 16 of the barrows were excavated and a number of skeletons and grave goods were foun

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Re: Iron age dig at Farthing Downs by expatpete on Monday, 24 July 2006
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On the Multi-map aerial photo on max zoom there is a circle of trees about 200yards East of Tollers Farm - is it recent or part of the site being investigated?
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Iron age dig at Farthing Downs by Andy B on Monday, 24 July 2006
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English Heritage Archaeologists return to Ancient Site for Further Excavations

Following last year's successful excavation at Farthing Downs Coulsdon in South London, English Heritage experts are teaming up once again with local archaeology enthusiasts to try and make new discoveries about the Iron Age site. The dig, which is part of National Archaeology Week, runs until 23 July.

There have been settlements and human activity on Farthing Downs since the Neolithic era to the seventh century AD. Previous finds have included pottery, flint tools, several axes and a late Bronze Age razor. This year's excavations will concentrate on the Iron Age field system and the Romano-British village that date from second century BC to second century AD.

Earlier this year archaeologists carried out investigations of the Iron Age field system using geo-physics and topographical surveying methods. These methods, seen on Channel 4's Time Team programme, map what is beneath the soil allowing archaeologists to decide where to dig. The archaeologists will investigate the trackway or drove road that runs the length of the Downs and the banks of the fields that lie next to it.

Working alongside the archaeologists from English Heritage and the Museum of London Archaeology Service will be members of the local community and archaeology students. The local volunteers will not just be helping to uncover new artefacts, but will also be trained in survey work so that they can continue to work on the project after the dig is finished.

The area has perplexed and fascinated enthusiasts and experts alike since the 19th century when the antiquarian John Wickham Flower excavated 16 of the barrows (Anglo-Saxon graves that are covered by an earth mound) and removed all of the artefacts that he uncovered. During the Second World War Brian Hope-Taylor, one of the foremost archaeologists of his generation, surveyed the field boundaries of the Iron Age settlement and later excavated a number of the burial mounds and associated graves. But very little research has been carried out since then.

Barry Taylor of English Heritage's Greater London Archaeology Service, who is leading the excavation, said:

"Farthing Downs is one of the most impressive later prehistoric settlement sites that I've worked on. The earth and chalk banks that once formed the tracks and boundaries of the Iron Age landscape are still visible on the ground today, over two thousand years after they were constructed. These remains have fascinated people for centuries and even inspired the local Anglo-Saxon communities to bury their leaders along the line of these ancient earthworks.

"We hope that members of the public will come and see the progress of the dig at this fascinating and ancient site. Archaeologists from English Heritage will be on hand to talk about the history of the area and the excavations."

The work has been planned in partnership with staff from the City of London Corporation and English Nature to ensure that the wonderful flower-rich chalk grassland on the site is protected during the dig.

There will be a guided tour of the site at 2.30pm on Sunday 16 July, starting from the car park. Parking is limited, so people should come by public transport to avoid disappointment. Couldson South station (Redhill & Brighton line) is only a short walk from Farthing Downs.

Farthing Downs is a scheduled ancient monument and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) owned and managed by the City of London Corporation.

This project is largely resourced by volunteers and funded by English Heritage, with support from the City of London Corporation and English Nature. Post excavation analysis of the artefacts, human remains and environmental material is being undertaken free of charge by the relevant specialists and a programme of scientific dating will be undertaken by the Ancient Monuments Laboratory. A report will be pub

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