Barrow Hill (Teddington) [Barrow Field, Bushy Park, Teddington Tumulus] Round Barrow(s) : The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map:

<< Other Photo Pages >> Barrow Hill (Teddington) - Round Barrow(s) in England in Greater London

Submitted by Andy B on Thursday, 25 April 2013 Page Views: 8483

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Barrow Hill (Teddington) Alternative Name: Barrow Field, Bushy Park, Teddington Tumulus
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 4.667 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Greater London Type: Round Barrow(s)
Nearest Town: Kingston Nearest Village: Teddington
Map Ref: TQ16287037
Latitude: 51.420426N Longitude: 0.3291W
Condition:

5	Perfect
4	Almost Perfect
3	Reasonable but with some damage
2	Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1	Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0	No data.
-1	Completely destroyed

Destroyed Ambience:

5	Superb
4	Good
3	Ordinary
2	Not Good
1	Awful
0	No data.

2 Access:

5	Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4	Short walk on a footpath
3	Requiring a bit more of a walk
2	A long walk
1	In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0	No data.

5 Accuracy:

5	co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4	co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3	co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2	co-ordinates of the nearest village
1	co-ordinates of the nearest town
0	no data

5

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Ken Howe writes: One of the most amazing features of Teddington's history is that we have or should say, had a Bronze Age barrow in the town. One of only three in the Greater London area, out of about 40,000 in the country.

Teddington's barrow stood at Sandy Lane, about 350 yards from the Teddington gate to Bushy Park. At its peak, it was 12’3” high and 96’ in diameter; it must have been an imposing landmark for miles around. The earliest record I have discovered of this is in Charles Bridgeman’s map of the Bushy Park estate of 1730. It is shown as a tumulus at the side of the main road to Kingston. It was known as Barrow Hill and was in Barrow Field. Various local rumours arose about it and some claimed it to be a mass grave for victims of the Great Plague. This so disconcerted William IV, then Duke of Clarence and living in Bushy Park, that he blocked all attempts to investigate it.

The barrow withstood the enclosure of Bushy Park in Wolsey’s day, although it may have lost its southern tip in road widening, and also the Teddington Enclosure Act of 1800 when all of the common land was apportioned amongst the existing landowners. Fifty-eight acres of copyhold land granted to Thomas Davis Esq included the barrow. It was suggested that Field Lane which turns south from the High Street, was the pathway to the barrow from the old town centre.

It is not clear what resurrected interest in the barrow; maybe rumours that the new railway was to cut through it, or perhaps the new national pastime of archaeology found its way to Teddington. The Surrey Archaeological Society was formed in 1853 and they sought permission from the landowner to excavate the barrow. On their first anniversary – 30th June 1854 – 150 members and visitors held their first AGM, lunched at the Griffin in the marketplace and then set off across Kingston Bridge for their first ever ‘dig’ at the site.

They quickly found evidence of treasure hunters and other signs that the barrow had been disturbed but they pressed on to the very centre of the mound and were rewarded to find a pile of burnt bones on which had been placed a fine bronze dagger. On the floor of the grave were several fragments of charcoal and pieces of worked flint. A second day’s digging revealed a second cremation only four feet below the apex and later, the bones of a third burial, an adult buried superficially were found.

As archaeology was in its infancy at that time, there was no plan or sketch of the site ever made and the interesting finds seem to have been dispersed amongst the members nearest to the diggers. The following year the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society was formed and all finds were handed over to them. At their second AGM, their President Rev Thomas Hugo exhibited the dagger and a flint from the barrow. In 1860 it was reported that the dagger had ‘suffered considerably from incautious handling’ and would not be shown again. Indeed there is no record of it ever being seen again!

The barrow itself has come to a sorry end. As housing and road widening have moved in, an electricity sub-station has been installed on what remains of this once impressive site.

I have spent many years following clues to the whereabouts of the finds from the barrow but have only succeeded in tracing some of the flints that were discovered. An array of very interesting people have come to light in the course of my enquiries and these would provide the basis for a Victorian mystery drama themselves.

Anyone wishing to known a little of this saga should obtain The Bronze Age Barrow at Teddington by me, Ken Howe, available at Teddington Waterstones priced £3.

Source: TW11 Magazine

With thanks to John Lindsay and Paul Bennett (here) for additional information.
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Andy B has found this location on Google Street View:

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:

TQ1670 : Bushy Park in early autumn by Marathon — by Marathon
©2011(licence)

TQ1670 : The edge of Bushy Park by Marathon — by Marathon
©2011(licence)

TQ1670 : Flats, Teddington by N Chadwick — by N Chadwick
©2016(licence)

TQ1670 : Bushy Park wall, Sandy Lane, Teddington by John S Turner — by John S Turner
©2024(licence)

TQ1670 : Benchmark by Sandy Lane, Teddington by John S Turner — by John S Turner
©2024(licence)

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